Country registered average growth of 4.5 percent over three years

A tuna fish weighing 353 kilograms attracts attention on Nov 6, 2021, during the 4th China International Import Expo in Shanghai. (ZHU XINGXIN / CHINA DAILY)

As it has fought to contain the COVID-19 epidemic for most of the past three years, China's economy has expanded at an average annual rate of 4.5 percent, higher than the world's average.

In 2020, the nation was the first major economic power to register growth. The following year, its GDP increased to 114 trillion yuan ($16.54 trillion). And last year, its economy still managed to grow despite tremendous pressure from COVID-19.

In this series of photos, China Daily photographers recorded the national and individual efforts made to keep China's economy growing over the past three years.

A worker sorts parcels at the ZTO Express logistics center in Wuhan, Hubei province, on March 22, 2020. (ZHU XINGXIN / CHINA DAILY)

An employee at a clothing store at the Cuiwei shopping center in Beijing sells clothes while livestreaming on March 19, 2020. (ZOU HONG / CHINA DAILY)

A worker collects helmets at a construction site in the Yizhuang area in Beijing on March 16, 2020. (ZOU HONG / CHINA DAILY)

Containers from all over the world wait to be loaded or unloaded at Yangshan Port near Shanghai on April 24. (ZHU XINGXIN / CHINA DAILY)

Zhuang Ning (right), the manager of Dawn City Books in Beijing, sells books while livestreaming in the bookstore on April 11, 2020. (ZOU HONG / CHINA DAILY)

Workers assemble cars in Saic Motor's Lingang plant in Pudong New District, Shanghai, on April 23. (ZHU XINGXIN / CHINA DAILY)

Customers are being served at the Silian Hairdressing and Beauty Center on the Wangfujing shopping street on July 27. (ZOU HONG / CHINA DAILY)

Chefs at a grill house in Shanghai's Jinshan district prepare food for customers on May 16. (ZHU XINGXIN / CHINA DAILY)