China maintains economic recovery momentum

A Chinese official said on Monday that the country's economy had continued a "steady recovery" in the first two months of 2021 despite the raging coronavirus pandemic. National Bureau of Statistics spokesperson Liu Aihua told journalists in Beijing that exports "grew fast," investment and consumption "recovered steadily" and employment and prices were "generally stable" in the period ending in February.

However, Liu said that industries which greatly felt the negative effects of the pandemic were yet to return to pre-pandemic business levels.

She signalled that the government would "make more efforts to expand domestic demand" to help boost those struggling industries. The spokesperson also said the government was "positive" overall about the momentum of recovery of China's economy over the coming months.