The annual labour of every nation is the fund which originally
supplies it with all the necessaries and conveniencies of life
which it annually consumes, and which consist always either in the
immediate produce of that labour, or in what is purchased with
that produce from other nations.
>Here are five warning signs that have set seasoned China watchers worrying that what started out as an exercise in rebalancing and controlled liberalisation might result in a hard landing.
1. Growth
On the face of it, China has little to worry about. Official figures show that the economy is growing at an annual rate of 7%, the sort of expansion western nations can only dream about. But there are doubts about whether the official data is correct. The Economist has developed an unofficial “Keqiang index”, based on Li’s own technique of looking at indicators such as electricity use and rail freight volumes to assess what is really going on in the economy. These provide a much less rosy picture, with rail freight volumes down 11% on a year ago and electricity production flat. Using similar measures the London-based consultancy Fathom estimates China is really growing at 3.1% a year, not 7%
