China's Economy Recovers From COVID-19, Reports 3.2% Growth For June Qtr

On Thursday, China reported a 3.2 percent growth in GDP (gross domestic product) in the second quarter of 2020, when compared to the same period a year ago. The news comes as lockdown measures to contain the coronavirus outbreak in the country were eased during the April-June period and the Chinese government rolled out stimulus measures to prop up its economy.

In comparison, China had reported a contraction of 6.8 percent in its GDP for the January-March period from a year ago as the world's second largest economy took a huge hit from the coronavirus outbreak. It was the country's first GDP decline since at least 1992, when official quarterly records started.

"Generally speaking, the national economy overcame the adverse impact of the epidemic in the first half gradually and demonstrated a momentum of restorative growth and gradual recovery, further manifesting its development resilience and vitality," said China's National Bureau of Statistics in a press release on Thursday.

Measures introduced by the Chinese government include fiscal spending and cuts in lending rates and banks' reserve requirements. Recent data released officially by the authorities also showed an unexpected 0.5 percent increase in exports for June, when compared to the same month a year ago. Its imports in June rose 2.7 percent year-on-year. The country said that these were dollar-denominated exports and imports.