China Is Censoring Bad News About Its Economy

China's manufacturing activity contracted for the fourth straight month in January, an official factory survey showed on Wednesday, suggesting the sprawling sector was struggling to regain momentum at the start of 2024.

In a series of posts on its official WeChat account, the Ministry of State Security implored citizens to grasp President Xi Jinping's economic vision and not be swayed by those who sought to "Denigrate China's economy" through "False narratives." To combat this risk, the ministry said, security agencies will focus on "Strengthening economic propaganda and public opinion guidance." Over the last year, China has targeted consulting and advisory firms with foreign ties through raids, detainments and arrests.

Such efforts to curb the flow of information, curtail the release of unfavorable economic data and limit critical financial discourse seem to only deepen the concerns of investors and foreign businesses about the true state of China's economy.

In the last few months, anything which puts China's economy in a bad light has simply disappeared: One recent commentary that disappeared was an editorial published last month by Caixin Media, a Beijing-based business news outlet known for backing pro-market reforms.

The editorial called for officials to confront economic challenges directly, harking back to when China's economy was on the brink of collapse during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s.

The editorial said that, at the time, officials insisted that "The situation is excellent," but in reality people were destitute That same day, Li Xunlei, an economist at state-owned Zhongtai Securities, warned in a column published on Chinese news outlet Yicai that insufficient household consumption would persist unless China's leadership took steps to help lower-income families.

The Times story ends by noting that one of China's most reliable mouthpieces, Hu Xijin, who for a long time was the chief editorial writer for one of China's leading nationalist papers, recently chastised the government on his own Weibo account.

https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2024/02/01/china-is-censoring-bad-news-about-its-economy-n609084