How Li Keqiang's alternative way of assessing the health of China's economy stacks up today.
Li Keqiang, then Premier of the People's Republic of China at the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Dalian, China, September, 2015. Credit: World Economic Forum via Flickr
For some, the death of former premier Li Keqiang on October 27 signaled the passing of a class of Chinese leaders steeped in pragmatism rather than ideology. Among the better-known indicators of Li’s approach was his singular way of assessing the health of China’s economy.
Instead of relying on the country’s official GDP numbers, the former premier used a three-pronged proxy measurement for growth. Over time, this so-called ‘Li Keqiang index’ became widely watched by economists, investors and analysts keen for insights into how the world’s second-largest economy was really performing.
This week, The Wire asks what the index is telling us about China’s recent economic performance and assesses whether it’s still a relevant measure, 16 years after the ex-premier first proposed it.
A FRANK ADMISSION
The Li Keqiang Index’s origins lie in a State Department cable published by WikiLeaks in 2010 which told of a conversation between Li and former U.S. Ambas
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