BEIJING -- Many of China's provinces and top municipalities have reported rapid economic slowdowns for the last three months of 2017, with nine posting negative growth, raising suspicion that they had inflated growth numbers in the past.
Economic powerhouses Shanghai, Chongqing and Zhejiang Province --where President Xi Jinping spent six years as Communist Party chief -- as well as six other localities said they saw negative nominal growth during the October-December quarter. All nine had enjoyed positive year-on-year growth until the quarter before.
