China's economy was first in to Covid crisis – and is first out

Beijing was fast to respond and increased public investment; it has not faced a second wave

By its own standards, China's economy is having a bad year. After four decades of stellar growth, the east Asian country will barely expand at all in 2020.

But just about every country - big or small - has faced a hit from the Covid-19 pandemic, and China has suffered less than most. Whereas most western industrialised nations are still struggling to get back to where they were before the virus struck, Beijing has reported that there was year-on-year growth in the third quarter.

Related: China becomes first major economy to recover from Covid-19 pandemic