There are many but wouldn't you agree tax revenues are a rather hard indicator to fudge if GDP decreases? Tax revenues are very well correlated to GDP, in downt

There are many but wouldn't you agree tax revenues are a rather hard indicator to fudge if GDP decreases? Tax revenues are very well correlated to GDP, in downturns too. 6% is also a rather large increase YoY for the Chinese MoF's tax receipts. It is difficult to make hard cash of such a large number up. I think what has happened is China actually grew faster than the claimed 7-9% in the past decade and now the amount is smoothened to reflect this I've always noticed a sway on HN to downplay China's growth, given the large American audience this is quite expected. But it is good to be impartial to understand the changes a bit better.