BEIJING: It has long been suspected but never proven. Now Liaoning Province, in the rust belt of northern China, has admitted to faking its economic growth data. The fabrication occurred between 2011 and 2014, the provincial Governor Chen Qiufa told a meeting of the local legislature. But as is often the case in China, the Communist Party did not say by how much the data had been over-stated, although it said fiscal revenue was inflated by as much as 20 per cent in some years. More tellingly there has been no pledge to restate the numbers for that four year period in either provincial or national accounts.
The revelation will give further voice to the China bears, even though Liaoning was considered something of a renegade province which has been hit by major corruption and vote buying scandals in recent months. But the timing could not be worse given China’s full-year GDP numbers will be released on Friday. These are set to be equally questionable, as in each of the first three quarters China’s economy grew at exactly 6.7 per cent.
