This is What the Chinese Government is Doing as the Chinese Economy Goes Into Tailspin

In China, The Central Central Committee for Disciplinary Inspection  said last week it was disciplining 313 National Bureau of Statistics officials for “profiting from statistics” and barred officials from “receiving royalties, editorial fees or labour fees” from publishing statistics data.

Now, reports FT,  executives searching for figures on China’s petroleum exports or wind power output have noticed growing gaps in the numbers, with some data released later than expected or missing entirely. This, of course, has made it harder to assess the state of the broader economy.

The gaps appeared after the CCCDI, China’s feared corruption watchdog, began its probe.

“The fear of a crackdown means that a number of other outlets that have sold data may be shut down, so numbers coming out of China might be less timely in the coming months,” according to Michal Meidan, a China expert at consultancy Energy Aspects in London.

 -RW