CHINA's economy advanced in January and February according to official data, but numbers are hard to understand due to the Covid crisis, reports Hong Kong's South China Morning Post.
Both retail sales and industrial production data were stronger than expected, suggesting that the economy continued to gain momentum in the first quarter of 2021. But fixed asset investment growth was lower than expected, yet it rose during the first two months of the year.
Retail sales grew 33.8 per cent year on year in the combined figures for January and February, compared to a growth of 4.6 per cent in December.
The surge in percentage terms, though, was due in large part to the low comparison base from the same period last year when the coronavirus tore through the world's second-largest economy, said the report.
SeaNews Turkey
Both retail sales and industrial production data were stronger than expected, suggesting that the economy continued to gain momentum in the first quarter of 2021. But fixed asset investment growth was lower than expected, yet it rose during the first two months of the year.
Retail sales grew 33.8 per cent year on year in the combined figures for January and February, compared to a growth of 4.6 per cent in December.
The surge in percentage terms, though, was due in large part to the low comparison base from the same period last year when the coronavirus tore through the world's second-largest economy, said the report.
SeaNews Turkey