A former Chinese finance minister criticized the country’s statistics for not properly reporting negative economic changes, with the rare harsh public statement from a senior figure highlighting long-standing concerns about the accuracy and reliability of national data.
A key meeting of top leaders last week said China’s growth next year would be weighed down by a “triple” whammy of contracting demand, a supply shock and weakening expectations.
However, none of those are visible in the statistical indicators, which have all been “very good,” Lou Jiwei (樓繼偉), a former Chinese minister of finance, said at an online event on Saturday.
Photo: AP
“There are insufficient figures reflecting negative changes” in the economy, Lou said, adding that the one-sided data make it harder to assess the government’s current judgment on the “triple forces” overshadowing the economy.
“In contrast, the US has both positive and negative numbers,” he said.
While the Chinese government touts the increase in the number of companies and other market entities, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, it has not publicized that a large number of these are inactive due to business woes and the difficulty of canceling official registrations, Lou said.
Similarly, government statistics count new jobs created, but do not follow up on whether those people are then laid off after six months or more, he said.
Lou is well-known as an outspoken and forthright commentator on the economy. After serving as finance minister, he headed the national pension fund until 2019.
Economists, as well as Chinese government officials, have repeatedly raised questions about the accuracy of the nation’s economic data over the years. After a series of scandals about faked data, a special unit was set up to combat the issue, with Chinese National Bureau of Statistics Director Ning Jizhe (寧吉喆) saying in 2018 the problems were all in the past.
Ning spoke at the online forum on Saturday just before Lou made his comments.
Although China’s statistics do look to have improved in recent years as national authorities take over more responsibility for data collection, doubts remain, with issues such as the steadiness of growth statistics or discrepancies between national and local numbers continuing to raise questions about accuracy.
The most important word for Chinese economic policy next year is “stability,” according to a senior economic official of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
There are many hidden risks in the economy and the financial sector, and China cannot return to the old growth path, Han Wenxiu (韓文秀), executive vice minister of the CCP’s Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission, said in an online event on Saturday.
Han was explaining the economic plans for next year, which the CCP released on Friday.
The property sector is large, has a long supply chain, and accounts for a high proportion of the economy, fixed-asset investment, local governments’ income and financial institutions’ loans, Han said.
Real estate agent and property developer JSL Construction & Development Co (愛山林) led the average compensation rankings among companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) last year, while contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) finished 14th. JSL Construction paid its employees total average compensation of NT$4.78 million (US$159,701), down 13.5 percent from a year earlier, but still ahead of the most profitable listed tech giants, including TSMC, TWSE data showed. Last year, the average compensation (which includes salary, overtime, bonuses and allowances) paid by TSMC rose 21.6 percent to reach about NT$3.33 million, lifting its ranking by 10 notches
Popular vape brands such as Geek Bar might get more expensive in the US — if you can find them at all. Shipments of vapes from China to the US ground to a near halt last month from a year ago, official data showed, hit by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and a crackdown on unauthorized e-cigarettes in the world’s biggest market for smoking alternatives. That includes Geek Bar, a brand of flavored vapes that is not authorized to sell in the US, but which had been widely available due to porous import controls. One retailer, who asked not to be named, because
SEASONAL WEAKNESS: The combined revenue of the top 10 foundries fell 5.4%, but rush orders and China’s subsidies partially offset slowing demand Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) further solidified its dominance in the global wafer foundry business in the first quarter of this year, remaining far ahead of its closest rival, Samsung Electronics Co, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. TSMC posted US$25.52 billion in sales in the January-to-March period, down 5 percent from the previous quarter, but its market share rose from 67.1 percent the previous quarter to 67.6 percent, TrendForce said in a report. While smartphone-related wafer shipments declined in the first quarter due to seasonal factors, solid demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) devices and urgent TV-related orders
MINERAL DIPLOMACY: The Chinese commerce ministry said it approved applications for the export of rare earths in a move that could help ease US-China trade tensions Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) is today to meet a US delegation for talks in the UK, Beijing announced on Saturday amid a fragile truce in the trade dispute between the two powers. He is to visit the UK from yesterday to Friday at the invitation of the British government, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. He and US representatives are to cochair the first meeting of the US-China economic and trade consultation mechanism, it said. US President Donald Trump on Friday announced that a new round of trade talks with China would start in London beginning today,
RSS