China revises GDP figures

Several weeks ago, Chinese officials suddenly announced they had reason to believe China’s economy is much larger than past GDP figures indicate, and they immediately began amassing data and building models to prove their point. Yesterday, the same group of officials released a revised set of GDP figures, which raised the value of China’s economy by 17% and catapulted the country into 6th place in global nominal GDP rankings. Apparently, past GDP calculations had grossly underestimated the size of China’s booming service sector, which represents 41% of China’s economy. In addition, the new GDP figures reveal that fixed asset investment is actually at a sustainable level. In short, China’s economy is both larger and more structurally sound than previously believed. The Financial Times reports:

The new, more rosy picture of economic strength could fuel calls from the US for China to revalue significantly its currency, which critics say is being held at a level that grants an unfair trade advantage.

Read More: China revises size of economy up by 17%