Chinese Cook Books?
Another potential reason why those long on commodities may get a big surprise as Chinas economy "slows" down. On a gray Friday morning in February, Liu Min quietly went up to the ninth floor of an atrium building here, climbed over a 4-foot railing and plunged to his death onto the marble floor below.
The suicide might have drawn little attention, especially in one of China's poorer provinces, except that it happened in Bengbu's municipal government building and that the dead man was chief of the city's statistics bureau. Just weeks before Liu's death, city officials proclaimed a stunning 16.5% increase in gross domestic product for 2004 — nearly triple the GDP increase of the year before.
Although China posted a sizzling growth rate of 9.5%, nearly all of the major regions reported GDP increases that were even higher. Based on these local reports, China's top government statistician said, the country's GDP growth for last year should have been as much as 15.5%. This charade was tolerated in the past. But more recently, it has become an embarrassment to the central government as foreign investors and analysts, among others, have come to question the credibility of China's statistics.
LA Times:Chinese GDP Figures in Doubt
The suicide might have drawn little attention, especially in one of China's poorer provinces, except that it happened in Bengbu's municipal government building and that the dead man was chief of the city's statistics bureau. Just weeks before Liu's death, city officials proclaimed a stunning 16.5% increase in gross domestic product for 2004 — nearly triple the GDP increase of the year before.
Although China posted a sizzling growth rate of 9.5%, nearly all of the major regions reported GDP increases that were even higher. Based on these local reports, China's top government statistician said, the country's GDP growth for last year should have been as much as 15.5%. This charade was tolerated in the past. But more recently, it has become an embarrassment to the central government as foreign investors and analysts, among others, have come to question the credibility of China's statistics.
LA Times:Chinese GDP Figures in Doubt
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