BEIJING: China’s economy grew last year at its slowest pace in four decades as it was hammered by Covid-19 lockdowns and a property crisis but the forecast-beating reading raised hopes for a strong recovery as it reopens.
Beijing’s rigid adherence to its zero-Covid strategy of strict containment that effectively shut the country off from the world hammered business activity last year and threw supply chains offline, rattling the global economy.
The measures meant the growth came in at just three percent last year, the worst reading since a 1.6 percent contraction in 1976 — when Mao Zedong died — excluding coronavirus…
