Economics
China’s Strong Growth Data Questioned, Mocked on Social Media
- ‘Multiple contradictions’ behind Jan-Feb numbers, analysts say
- Retail sales jump conflicts with higher jobless rate, weak CPI
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China’s surprisingly robust economic data for the first two months of this year sparked heated discussions among analysts struggling to reconcile the figures with underlying indicators showing a much weaker picture.
Some of the strong headline numbers in the release by the National Bureau of Statistics are not supported by a detailed breakdown of the data, several economists have highlighted. A common problem raised is the diverging trend between the 12.2% jump in fixed-asset investment and the slump in the output of key construction materials like cement and crude steel, which fell 17.8% and 10%, respectively.