https://thenanfang.com/heres-why-chinas-gdp-numbers-are-smoke-and-mirrors/ Daily news and views from China. Fri, 03 Jun 2016 15:15:00 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.5.2 https://thenanfang.com/heres-why-chinas-gdp-numbers-are-smoke-and-mirrors/#comment-12718 Fri, 17 Jul 2015 07:15:00 +0000 https://thenanfang.com/?p=362038#comment-12718 “many asked questions about the accuracy of Chinese GDP growth data. Articles were written by The Economist and Financial Times, both publications I respect”.
Many have been questioning the accuracy of Chinese GDP growth data for decades. To no avail: in hindsight, China’s officially reported figures have always been supported by observable reality (unlike India’s, which are never questioned).
We can now add empirical data to the evidence of our own eyes. Last week, after a 12-year qualification process, China was admitted to the OECD. One obligation of OECD members is adhering to its reporting standards and being open to OECD audits of same.
China’s application was delayed almost 3 years because the country balked at the OECD’s GDP reporting strictures. Eventually, China acceded to the OECD demands and re-stated its GDP for the past 12 years.
Under the terms of the agreement, China will add 3 points to its reported GDP over the next 36 months. I suspect that this neat-looking 7% result used some of the OECD ‘credits’ so smooth things out and raise them to a more realistic level. Perfectly legit.

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