China's recovery is on track, but consumption remains in the spotlight

More attention needed to domestic spending

As much of the world continues to grapple with the short and long-term effects of the pandemic, and importantly bring cases and vaccination programmes under control, China has continued to forge ahead impressively in its recovery.

The economy has now largely been in recovery mode for over nine months, as we saw retail and manufacturing sectors continue to gradually rise past pre-Covid 19 levels for the first time back in August. Since then, the Chinese economy has continued to grow significantly in the first quarter of 2021, with economic data pointing to a continued recovery. And importantly, China's GDP growth accelerated to 6.5% in the fourth quarter, compared to 4.9% in the third quarter, making China the first among the major economies to fully recover from the pandemic, posting positive GDP growth in 2020...