China's economy continued to recover in the first two months of the
year, with major economic indicators surging from last year's low
comparison base, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday. After deducting the base effect, major indicators grew steadily, with
the economy performing within the reasonable range, the NBS said. The country's industrial output rose by 35.1 percent year-on-year in
the January-February period, compared with 7.3 percent in December, the
NBS said. Retail sales grew by 33.8 percent in the first two months on a yearly
basis, compared with 4.6 percent in December, the bureau said. Fixed-asset investment rose by 35.0 percent year-on-year in the
January-February period, up from 2.9 percent for the whole year of 2020. The surveyed urban jobless rate came in at 5.4 percent in January and
5.5 percent in February, versus the government's annual control target
of 5.5 percent, the bureau said. Despite improvements, the NBS said the Chinese economy still faces
multiple challenges including the lingering uncertainties surrounding
the COVID-19 pandemic and global economic situation. Domestically, the recovery has remained unbalanced and the foundation
of recovery is "not yet solid", the bureau said in a statement.
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