The real estate slump and uncertainty about future income have weighed on consumer spending and business confidence, adding to deflation concerns.

China's economy grew 5.4% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, official data showed on Friday, significantly beating analysts' expectations and enabling the government to meet its annual growth target.

Gao’s sin? Saying that China may have grown just 2% over the last two or three years, less than half the rate Xi’s government claims. 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.