Interpreting the Discrepancies in China's Statistics

The struggle between central and regional interests forms the backbone of Chinese political history. The particulars of this struggle have evolved with time. What once manifested as the disintegration of the empire into smaller, regional kingdoms today takes a much less dramatic form: squabbles over inconsistent statistical data, thwarted attempts by Beijing to rein in overzealous local governments and property developers and intermittent anti-corruption campaigns.

According to a recent survey conducted by the Finance Affairs Office of Guangdong and announced July 31, Guangdong's electricity consumption — a key proxy measure of industrial activity — dropped 0.1 percent in the first five months of 2013 from the same period in 2012. This, the survey pointed out, was in marked contrast to reported provincial gross domestic product growth of 12.9 percent during that time. Representatives of the finance office, citing the discrepancy between their own findings and the provincial government's figures, questioned whether the official statistics reflected real economic conditions.