Stockholm, Oct. 31 (ChinaEurope) — An official with China’s top economic planner on Friday summarized China’s experience in restoring the economy while containing the epidemic as the country became the first major economy to return to growth following the COVID-19 fallout.

Timely and effective epidemic prevention and control measures helped normalize economic and social order, paving the way for development, Ning Jizhe, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), told at a press conference.

After the epidemic was gradually brought under control, the Chinese government rolled out more than 90 policies to spur work and production resumption and stabilize industrial and supply chains.

The government also introduced extensive measures to stimulate market vitality, including more fiscal spending, tax relief, and cuts in lending rates and banks’ reserve requirements, Ning added.

The government’s priorities in stabilizing the job market and ensuring people’s livelihood helped maintain social stability, and new growth drivers, including the internet-powered economy and new infrastructure, have assumed a bigger role in boosting growth.

Aerial photo taken on Oct. 15, 2019 shows the Shekou cruise home port in Nanshan District of Shenzhen, south China’s Guangdong Province. (Xinhua/Mao Siqian)

Deeper reforms and expansion of opening-up, including streamlining administrative procedures and easing market barriers, have stabilized expectations, foreign trade and investment, according to Ning.

Against the backdrop of sweeping efforts to stimulate growth, China’s economic recovery has picked up steam, with the gross domestic product (GDP) expanding 4.9 percent year on year in the third quarter, faster than the 3.2-percent growth in Q2, official data showed.

In the first three quarters, the country’s GDP expanded 0.7 percent year on year, returning to growth after the 1.6-percent contraction in the first half of the year and the 6.8-percent slump in Q1. ■