China sees strong economic recovery, gives a push to global outlook

China's economy appears to have passed the worst phase of the bruising caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, as most countries continue to struggle amid a surge in a infections.

In Q32020, China’s gross domestic product (GDP) rose 4.9 percent from a year ago, according to official data. This was lower than what economists had forecast, but stronger than the previous quarter’s growth of 3.2 percent, according to a Bloomberg report.

This means the Chinese economy has seen an expansion of 0.7 percent in the first nine months of 2020.

"One of the reasons that headline GDP missed expectations is probably a strong rebound in imports, which contributes negatively to GDP," said Liu Peiqian, China economist at Natwest Markets Plc in Singapore told Bloomberg.

"That should not be viewed negatively, as strong growth in imports reflected recovery in underlying economic growth is strengthening," Peiqian added.

After the country managed to contain the number of novel coronavirus, demand appears to have seen an uptick. Media reports suggest that shoppers spent a significant amount of money during the Golden Week holiday earlier in October.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in October said it forecasts the global economy to contract 4.4 percent in 2020, a slight upward revision of 0.8 percent from its previous estimate.

The IMF even said part of the reason for the revision is China’s economic recovery.