Only a few years ago, it used to be considered a conspiracy theory to say China was making up its growth numbers - times have changed and now if anything, it seems the opposite is true. However, one respected independent research firm is bucking this trend and sticking to its belief that China's GDP numbers are real. Though electricity use in China is now growing by only about 2%, it has dropped meaningfully from 12% in 2010. Now the most recent electricity consumption data suggests an economy growth at around 7%, believes Source U.K. In their multi-asset research report dated Sept. 6 titled: “Can we trust China?” Paul Jackson and Andras Vig of Source U.K. Services questioned the reliability of China economic data and found, to their surprise, that it seems pretty good. Does China’s electricity consumption point to economic slowdown? Jackson and Vig point out that the Chinese are accused of manipulating their economic data to mask the extent of the country's economic slowdown. The analysts examined the data in some detail to conclude that... More