The numbers don’t add up. China’s GDP is reported to have grown 5 percent, and industrial output supposedly expanded 6 percent.
However, tax receipts declined 3.5 percent in the first quarter of 2025, signaling weaker business activity. Industrial electricity usage, slowed from 6 percent growth in Q1 2024 to just 2 percent in Q1 2025. Crude demand in April also fell 6 percent.