Here's the best way to approach China's gross domestic product figures: ignore them. Things in the world's second-biggest economy are much worse than they appear.
Even if we take the 7.5 percent April-June growth rate at face value, its components suggest a more ominous scenario. Industrial production, for example, rose just 8.9 percent in June compared with May's 9.2 percent gain. For an export-addicted, developing economy, those are anemic increases. It doesn’t take a vivid imagination to see how that will crimp consumption and income growth in the second half of 2013.
