The Chinese economy grew at a faster rate than before the coronavirus pandemic in the fourth quarter of 2020, official data showed, as industrial production continued to drive the country’s recovery.

Gross domestic product growth beat expectations to reach 6.5 per cent in the final quarter of last year, according to figures released on Monday, with the economy expanding 2.3 per cent over the year, a sharp contrast to the expected performance of other big economies.

The new data underline a rapid turnround in the world’s second-largest economy, which declined in early 2020 for the first time in more than four decades after the country was hit by the pandemic and authorities imposed a harsh lockdown. In the fourth quarter of 2019, China grew 6 per cent.