China’s industrial production grew by 6.9% in October, compared to October last year, the nation’s National Bureau of Statistics reported Nov. 16. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, China’s industrial production is on a trajectory to grow at a rate year on year for 2020 that exceeds the industrial production growth in 2019. China was hit very hard by COVID-19 in January through March, but because it seriously implemented public health measures, by May, 90% of its workforce was back to work.
Within industrial production, China’s NBS notes, manufacturing production grew by 7.5% in October year-on-year. Retail sales grew by 4.3%, a significant increase as retail sales had been sharply negative for most of the year. Exports leapt by 13.2% in October, while imports grew by 4.7% year-on-year for October.
