MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

China represented 17% of the global economy in pandemic plagued 2020

China's GDP broke through the 100-trillion-yuan (US$ 15.5 trillion) mark, achieving an increase of 2.3% in 2020 despite the impact of COVID-19.

China's economic output is forecast to account for more than 17% of the world's economy in the coronavirus-plagued 2020. As the sole economy recording positive GDP growth last year, China will ramp up efforts and strive to achieve higher quality, more efficient, sustainable and safer development in 2021, a senior government official revealed in Beijing.

China's GDP broke through the 100-trillion-yuan (US$ 15.5 trillion) mark, achieving an increase of 2.3% in 2020 despite the impact of COVID-19.

To break down, the added value of the primary industry, taking up 7.7% of GDP, reached 7.78 trillion yuan, up 3% year-on-year; the secondary industry, taking up 37.8% of GDP, went up 2.6%; the tertiary industry, taking up 54.5% of GDP, rose 2.1%, according to an economic report released by the National Bureau of Statistics, (NBS).

Throughout last year, total consumption expenditure drove a 0.5% drop in GDP, gross capital formation drove a 2.2% increase in GDP, while exports of goods and services contributed to a 0.7% increase in GDP, NBS data said.

The annual GDP per capita hit 72,447 yuan in 2020, up 2% year-on-year, surpassing US$ 10,000 for two consecutive years. GDP was 100.9 trillion yuan, an increase of 1.9% over the previous year.

”2020 is the closing year of the '13th Five-Year Plan' (2016-20) and a crucial year for achieving the first centenary goal. After five years of hard work and continuous national efforts, the main economic and social development goals set out in the plan have been achieved,“ said Sheng Laiyun, deputy director of the NBS.

During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, China's average annual nominal increase in GDP reached 6.5 trillion yuan, 1 trillion yuan more than that of the 12th Five-Year Plan period, he added.

”In the past year, trade protectionism and unilateralism prevailed, and economic globalization has encountered major challenges. In the face of this challenges, China's door to the outside world has not only remained open, but it has been opened wider and wider,” said Sheng, adding that China has taken the initiative to strengthen international cooperation in the fight against the coronavirus, actively participated in economic globalization and nurtured many new growth opportunities.

The total value of imports and exports of goods in 2020 was 32.16 trillion yuan, an increase of 1.9% over the previous year, of which exports increased by 4%. The total value of trade and exports both hit a new record high, continuing to rank No.1 in the global trade in goods.