China's economy grew at a 6.5% pace in the final quarter of 2020, the national statistics bureau announced Monday local time, topping off a year in which it grew in three of four quarters and by 2.3% in total.

Why it matters: No other major economy managed positive growth in 2020. Although the COVID-19 pandemic was first detected in China, the country got the virus under control and became one of the main positive drivers of the global economy even as the rest of the world was largely under lockdown.

By the numbers: China is expected to grow at a blistering 8.3% pace in 2021, per FactSet, more than double the 4.1% growth seen in the U.S.

What they're saying: "However many times you hear the China growth story, it continues to have the capacity to shock and amaze," says Columbia historian Adam Tooze. "In scale and speed it is unlike any previous experience."