China Fake Data to Skew More Export Numbers

From bloomberg.com

China’s data distortions will muddy analysis of the nation’s trade until at least June, making it harder for analysts to assess the strength of the world’s biggest exporter and second-largest economy. That’s when China will provide figures that compare with what Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc economist Louis Kuijs says are “pretty clean” numbers from May 2013 that followed a crackdown on inflated invoices used to disguise capital inflows. Government data yesterday that showed March exports unexpectedly fell 6.6 percent from a year earlier marked the peak of distortions, RBS said. China’s reluctance to ... (full story)