China’s National Bureau of Statistics is Funny

Courtesy of Jan-Martin Feddersen at Immobilienblasen

This kind of "accounting" makes even the BLS [Bureau of Labor Statistics] & BEA [Bureau of Economic Analysis] jealous…..

Diese Zahlen können es fast mit "Berchnungsmodellen" ( denke hier besonders an den Arbeitsmarktbericht und das GDP ) der USA aufnehmen…….. Allen die immer noch auf dem Trip sind das China die Lokomotive für die Erholung sein wird sollten sich nicht von den offiziellen Zahlen blenden lassen und Ihre Erwartungen merklich zurückschrauben……

China’s National Bureau of Statistics is gathered in a “scientific and realistic method,” Ma Jiantang, the agency’s director, said at a briefing in Beijing yesterday

Albert Edwards LOL China FT Alphaville

As the debate over how bad things in China are rages on, growing Sino-sceptic Albert Edwards offers his two pennies on the country’s latest statistics.

Well, to be accurate, he laughs out loud at them:

That this outturn was bang in line with the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg makes it all the more unbelievable in my mind. All other economic data worldwide have been surprising massively on the downside and China should be no exception. A few hours earlier, for example, South Korea reported Q4 GDP had declined a hefty 5.6% QoQ, massively worse than a Reuter’s consensus which looked for a contraction of 2.7%! I naively thought that this QoQ decline was already annualized, but it was not. On a US style of reporting, the South Korean economy contracted at a 20% annualised rate in Q4. Asia is in depression. Whatever the heavily manipulated Chinese GDP is telling us, that economy must now be contracting. The Yuan needs to be devalued.

So the key thing that’s fishy according to Edwards is just how bang on line the numbers were. As for Tim Geithner’s bizarre declaration on Thursday that China was manipulating its currency (presumably a call for China to allow the yuan to appreciate?) Alberts actually believes the reverse is needed. The yuan must be devalued.

And he’s got a point. As he highlights, inter-regional trade within Asia is what appears to be suffering the most (blowing all notions of “decoupling” firmly out the window). This is clearly reflected by the sharp fall in Japanese exports, which fell no less than 35 per cent year-on-year in the last quatrer according to the latest figures. As Alberts stresses (his emphasis):

…we cannot highlight strongly enough how truly mindboggling Japan’s collapse in exports to China are. Last July they were expanding at a 16% yoy pace. Now they are contracting at a 35% yoy rate! This is a phenomenon throughout the region. Hence despite the notoriously manipulated Chinese GDP data showing a shocking slowdown in GDP growth to 6.8% yoy, I would eat my hat if the Chinese economy was doing anything other than contracting right now.

So there you have it readers, if the Chinese economy proves not to be contracting Mr. Edwards will – for he has said so – eat his hat.

Combine the economic slump with the suppression from the comminust party you have a very "explosive" mixture….. And I think the "events" in China will easily rival the protest we are already facing in parts of Europe ( see European governments face protests over economy / Reuters )

Wenn man die Talfahrt jetzt mit der Unterdrückung der herrschenden Partei kombiniert dürfte das für eine extrem explosive "Stimmung" sorgen. Teile Europas machen gerade vor was trotz Zensur auch in China ans Licht kommen wird ( siehe European governments face protests over economy / Reuters )