BEIJING—China’s economy shrank for the first time in almost three decades of records in the first quarter, as the CCP virus paralyzed production and spending, raising pressure on authorities to do more to stop mounting job losses.
Gross domestic product (GDP) fell 6.8 percent in January-March year-on-year, official data from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) showed on Friday—slightly larger than the 6.5 percent decline forecast by analysts, and reversing a reported 6 percent expansion in the fourth quarter of last year.
