REUTERS/Stringer
- Much of China’s economic data has been lacking, at least compared to its usual standards.
- A regional manufacturing activity gauge in China recently stopped being produced and was deemed “illegal” by the central government. It had been significantly weaker than other nationwide activity gauges.
- There are reports the government wrote to journalists in China this year specifying economic topics that needed to be “managed.”
- With official data from the government continuing to weaken, the two reports suggest the economy may be even more dire than the government is letting on.
By usual standards, recent Chinese economic data had been somewhat horrendous, continuing to point to a further deceleration in activity after the economy grew at the slowest pace since the GFC in the September quarter.
In the year to November, retail sales grew by 8.1%, the weakest increase since 2003. Industrial output didn’t fare much better, expanding by 5.4% from 12 months earlier, the slowest pace in three years.See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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