China's growth numbers may finally add up... in 2019

China cleaning up environment for statistical work & ensuring there's no interference by officials

For local officials in China’s provinces keen to boost their chances of promotion, the days of being able to puff up the output data they send to Beijing may be coming to an end.

Fifteen years ago, if you added up the gross domestic product of all China’s 31 provinces, you’d get a number more than 10 per cent larger than the official national total. By around 2019, the country will “nearly eliminate” that gap, according to Sheng Laiyun, chief economist of the National Bureau of Statistics.

The authorities are shifting to the latest United Nations-based statistical standard, gathering more comprehensive data