China’s economy is facing downward pressure due to COVID-19 and external shocks, and the central bank will “increase implementation of prudent monetary policy” to support the real economy, China’s central bank Governor Yi Gang said. Yi made the comments via video link during the meeting of G20 finance leaders in Indonesia, the People’s Bank of China said in a statement on Saturday. On Friday, China reported that growth slowed sharply in the second quarter, increasing just 0.4pc on the year, lagging expectations, as the world’s second-largest economy was hobbled by widespread lockdowns to extinguish outbreaks of COVID-19. While June data showed signs of improvement, analysts do not expect a rapid recovery as China sticks to its tough zero-COVID policy, the country’s property market is in a deep slump and the global outlook is darkening. During the G20 finance meetings in Bali, Chinese Finance Minister Liu Kun said by video link that China will donate $50m to a new pandemic prevention and response fund being set up by the World Bank.