ON THE face of it, this should be a triumphant day for China. It reported that the economy grew by 6.9% last year, just a shade lower than 2014’s 7.3% pace. That is some achievement, given the turmoil in emerging markets and the sheer size ($10 trillion) of the economy (6.9% growth now yields more additional output than 14.2% growth did back in 2007). But the plunging Chinese stockmarket, the global commodity collapse and downward pressure on the yuan have given rise to a prevalent view that reality is grimmer. If the data are so strong, why are so many people so down on China?
