(Yicai Global) April 17 -- China's gross domestic product fell 6.8 percent to CNY20.65 trillion (USD2.92 trillion) in the first three months in the first quarterly contraction ever recorded since the nation adopted GDP as an economic indicator in the early 1990s, the country’s National Bureau of Statistics said today.

GDP grew 6.4 percent at the same time last year and 6.0 percent in the fourth quarter.

An Yicai Global survey of 23 chief economists at major Chinese financial institutions found these predicted, on average, that the world's second-largest economy shrank 6.48 percent in the period from the massive fallout from the coronavirus pandemic and its ensuing prevention and control measures, which restricted movement and mothballed swathes of factories and service firms.

Editor: Ben Armour