Reports questioning strong China growth deleted from WeChat

A post by an Internet user on WeChat mocking how the surprising figures caught a fictional economist off guard and left him frustrated in finding reasonable answers was removed as well. That article was read more than 100,000 times before it was deleted. — AP

At least two reports by well-known economists questioning China’s surprisingly strong economic data were deleted from the Chinese social media site Wechat in the last day, indicating the government’s sensitivity about the economy.

A post by JD.com Inc. chief economist Shen Jianguang arguing that there are multiple contradictions behind the strong data was taken down Wednesday by Tencent Holdings Ltd, owner of the mobile application. The error massage said the article “violates regulations” and was taken down due to “relevant complaints”, without giving further explanation.