Virus-hit Chinese economy continues recovery in April

The Chinese economy continued its recovery in April from impacts of the novel coronavirus pandemic according to major economic indicators, said an official from China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on a press conference held by the State Council Information Office on Friday. 

According to NBS spokesperson Liu Aihua, the added value of industries above the designated size rose 3.9% in April from a year earlier, after falling 1.1% year on year in March, and showed a month-on-month growth of 2.27%.

The total retail sales of consumer goods decreased by 7.5% year on year, 8.3 percentage points less than that in March.

Investment in fixed assets nationwide (excluding rural households) dropped 10.3% in the first four months from the same period last year; the year-on-year decline was 16.1% over the first three months of this year.

The total value of imports and exports of goods was down 0.7% year on year, compared to a decrease of 0.8% in March.

"Generally speaking, with main economic indicators improving in April, the national economy is gradually returning back to normal," Liu said.