URGENT: China GDP grows 4.5% in 1st qtr as “zero-COVID” policy ends

China’s economy in the January-March period grew 4.5 percent from a year earlier, official data showed Tuesday, with the pace of expansion accelerating from the previous quarter as the nation’s stringent “zero-COVID” policy officially ended earlier this year.

The growth in gross domestic product of the world’s second-largest economy picked up from 2.9 percent in the previous three months, with the lifting of the country’s draconian anti-virus steps that had restricted people’s movements and disrupted supply chains.