China's economic statistics show troubling inconsistencies

Slowdown may be masked as past bloated figures are being revised downward

A female Chinese worker handles production of yarn at a textile factory in Binzhou city in east China's Shandong province.

ISSAKU HARADA, Nikkei staff writer

June 25, 2018 05:44 JST

BEIJING -- Anomalies have emerged in China's economic statistics. At local government levels, there are signs of potential attempts at bloating figures, while national statistics show inconsistent numbers. Does this portend slowing growth? At the least, a closer monitoring of the economy seems in order.

The city government of Tianjin announced in January that its gross regional product -- a localized version of gross domestic product -- was overstated.