Janet Mui: Reading the China policy tea leaves is getting more difficult

Country needs to strike balance

clock • 4 min read

Gauging and understanding China’s economy for foreign investors is not easy. There have been long-standing doubts about the validity and credibility of the official statistics published by China.

On that front, given the availability of real-time data and tracking of private sector activity, it is now difficult to ‘fake' or ‘massage' data releases. For instance, satellites can now track the intensity of traffic that provides a proxy of activity, while trade data can easily be cross-checked with counterparts' statistics. What is more difficult to read are the China policy tea leaves. The country is undergoing structural and economic transition under one-man rule. Its economy is state directed but at the same time the private sector is crucial in driving its prosperity. Centr...

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