China on Monday reported a gross domestic product (GDP) increase of 6.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020, bringing the country's full-year expansion to 2.3 percent.

Despite the grave and complex environment posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, China managed to bring its economic growth back to a pre-pandemic rate of 6.5 percent, with full-year GDP exceeding 100 trillion yuan ($15.45 trillion) for the first time, China's National Bureau of Statistics said. 

The annual growth of 2.3 percent in 2020 also indicates China-led major economies in annual positive growth while many others continue to grapple with the pandemic.

The closely watched figure around the world beat many institutions' expectations of around 6.2 percent, including Reuters' forecast of 6.1 percent and Natixis' estimation of 6.3 percent, while it met Barkley's 6.5 percent.