Wuhan, the Chinese city once hit hard by the coronavirus last year, has witnessed strong economic recovery as its GDP in the first quarter expanded 58.4 percent, said a story published on Russia's RT website on April 25.

The city's gross domestic product rose to 357.4 billion yuan ($55 billion) in January-March compared to the same period last year, RT reported, citing Chinese local authorities via Chinese official media.

Meanwhile, the GDP of China's Hubei province where Wuhan is located also went into positive territory for the first time since the coronavirus outbreak hit. Hubei's GDP rose 58.3 percent to 987.27 billion yuan in the first three months of 2021 compared with a 40 percent drop a year ago, according to the report.

The region's performance is part of a broader recovery of the Chinese economy, commented the media. After becoming the only major economy that managed to expand in the pandemic year, China reported record 18.3 percent growth in the first quarter of 2021, it added.