Data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows that China’s GDP in the first half of 2020 reached 45.7 trillion yuan (US$6.5t), 1.6 percent down compared to that of the same period of 2019. As the center of the Covid-19 pandemic, Hubei Province where Wuhan is located saw its GDP plunge 19.3 percent in the same period.
Yet, thanks to measures targeting production resumption, 16 provinces, municipalities and regions saw positive GDP growth in the first half. The industrial added value of major enterprises in Hubei slumped by 20.8 percent year-on-year, narrowing from a 45.8 percent decline in the first quarter.
Major cities like Beijing and Shanghai suffered drops in their GDP in H1 which has pushed them out of the top 10 measured by GDP. Analysts said it is because Beijing and Shanghai are more reliant on the services sector, which is more difficult to revive due to sluggish consumption demand.
NBS data shows that accommodation and catering were the worst-hit industries whose total output value dropped by 26.8 percent from January to June. The least impacted industries were forestry, agriculture, finance, computer information and telecommunication, but impacted by other industries, their growth in output value also fell.
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