China's National Bureau of Statistics announced Friday morning that the country's economy dropped 6.8 percent in the first quarter of 2020 versus a year earlier, and 9.8 percent from the last three months of 2019. The contraction brings China's decades of uninterrupted economic growth to an halt — it's the first drop in quarterly gross domestic product since China started reporting that metric in 1992, The Wall Street Journal notes, and the first officially acknowledged economic pullback since 1976, The New York Times reports.
The reason for the drop in GDP is, of course, the new coronavirus that started spreading in Wuhan in early January, prompting China to shut down all but critical economic activity for about two months. Beijing has lifted most of those restrictions but imposed others, and economists are watching closely as China moves to restart its $14 trillion economy. But domestic consumption dropped further than forecast last month, and China's export-oriented economy is expected to continue suffering because much of the rest of the world has shut down to grapple with their own outbreaks of the virus.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Long summer days in Iceland's highlandsThe Week Recommends While many parts of this volcanic island are barren, there is a 'desolate beauty' to be found in every corner
-
The Democrats: time for wholesale reform?Talking Point In the 'wreckage' of the election, the party must decide how to rebuild
-
5 deliciously funny cartoons about turkeysCartoons Artists take on pardons, executions, and more
-
US charges Indian tycoon with bribery, fraudSpeed Read Indian billionaire Gautam Adani has been indicted by US prosecutors for his role in a $265 million scheme to secure solar energy deals
-
Boeing machinists approve contract, end strikeSpeed Read The company's largest union approved the new contract offer, ending a seven-week strike
-
US economy still strong in final preelection reportSpeed Read It grew at a solid 2.8% annual rate from July through September
-
Boeing machinists reject deal, continue strikeSpeed Read The rejection came the same day Boeing reported a $6.2 billion quarterly loss
-
Ports reopen after dockworkers halt strikeSpeed Read The 36 ports that closed this week, from Maine to Texas, will start reopening today
-
Empty-nest boomers aren't selling their big homesSpeed Read Most Americans 60 and older do not intend to move, according to a recent survey
-
Brazil accuses Musk of 'disinformation campaign'Speed Read A Brazilian Supreme Court judge has opened an inquiry into Elon Musk and X
-
Disney board fends off Peltz infiltration bidSpeed Read Disney CEO Bob Iger has defeated activist investor Nelson Peltz in a contentious proxy battle
