Xi warns officials against chasing 'reckless' GDP expansion

Chinese President Xi Jinping lashed out at inflated growth numbers and vowed to crack down on the pursuit of “reckless” projects that have no purpose except showing superficial results.

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“All plans must be based on facts, aiming for solid, genuine growth without exaggeration, and promoting high-quality, sustainable development,” Mr Xi said last week, according to a report on Dec 14 in the People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s official newspaper.

“Those who act recklessly and aggressively without regard for reality, impose excessive demands, or deploy resources without careful consideration, must be held strictly accountable,” he said at the Central Economic Work Conference.

Mr Xi used stark language to call for quality in economic gains and listed examples of wrongdoing such as unnecessarily huge industrial parks, disorderly expansion of local exhibitions and forums, inflated statistics and “fake construction kickoffs”.

The surprisingly direct and specific comments highlight the Chinese leader’s concern over the quality of growth in gross domestic product (GDP) and the use of financial resources, particularly as rising local debt is constraining the government's ability to spend.