The reason Gao is allegedly being silenced is for shining a brighter-than-usual spotlight on one of the biggest perception problems facing Xi’s Communist Party: that China routinely cooks the GDP books.

China’s economy grew by 5% last year, beating expectations. But economic difficulties remain.

Note: no sound] A view of the loading and unloading operation area of the container terminal in Longtan Port Area of Nanjing Port, Jiangsu province, China,6, 2025. According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on the same day,

Sales of consumer goods grew a moderate 3.5 percent, while hospitality sectors continued to outperform discretionary segments such as apparel, gold and jewelry.