China's gross domestic product expanded 2.3 percent year-on-year in 2020, exceeding the 100-trillion-yuan ($15.42 trillion) threshold to 101.60 trillion yuan, official data showed on Jan 18. The pace was faster than the 0.7-percent increase in the first three quarters, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.
The hard-earned achievement marked a new economic milestone for the Chinese economy, after the country's GDP per capita exceeded $10,000 in 2019 for the first time in history.
The advance also came as the world's second-largest economy won a decisive victory in poverty eradication last year while making historic achievements in the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects.
The country's economic operation has recovered steadily with employment and people's well-being effectively guaranteed, the NBS said, adding that the major tasks of economic and social development have been completed better than expected.
To soften the impact of the COVID-19 shock, the government has rolled out a raft of measures, including more fiscal spending, tax relief, and cuts in lending rates and banks' reserve requirements to stabilize growth and employment.
As the epidemic has been largely brought under control domestically, factories and schools have reopened and tourist sites across the country have resumed their usual hustle and bustle.
China's job market remained stable in 2020, with the surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas standing at 4.24 percent, below the government's annual target of around 5.5 percent, the data showed.
The fixed-asset investment saw a steady recovery, climbing 2.9 percent year-on-year in 2020, with investment in high-tech industries, healthcare and education surging faster than average.
Affected by the epidemic, retail sales of consumer goods fell 3.9 percent year-on-year in 2020. The indicator rebounded notably in recent months, rising 4.6 percent year-on-year in Q4, 3.7 percentage points higher than that in Q3.
Although the data have beaten expectations, the NBS cautioned that there are still multiple uncertainties from changing epidemic situations and the external environment, assuring that the country would take further measures to consolidate epidemic control and economic development results.
In 2020, China's per capita disposable income rose 2.1 percent to 32,189 yuan, basically keeping pace with the GDP increase, according to NBS data. Meanwhile, a total of 11.86 million new urban jobs were created in 2020, completing 131.8 percent of the target set for the whole year.
Crossing the 100-trillion-yuan threshold is also of significance for China in its pursuit of fully building a modern socialist country, the country's second centenary goal.
Looking forward, China is expecting its per capita GDP to reach the level of moderately developed countries by 2035, according to the Communist Party of China leadership's proposals for formulating the 14th Five-Year Plan between 2021 and 2025 and long-range goals.
The World Bank Group said earlier this month that it expects China's economy to expand by 7.9 percent this year, while the global economy is on track to grow by 4 percent.
