China Growth Figures Are Like 'Reading The Onion' Says Famed Short Seller Muddy Waters

Most countries around the world in 2022 faced headwinds that slowed down their respective economies. Whether it was inflation, issues from COVID-19 or supply-chain problems caused by the Russia-Ukraine war, it was a tough year economically. 

Well, apparently for everyone but China.

What Happened: Bloomberg reported that in a broadcast on state TV, Chinese President Xi Jinping said China’s GDP exceeded $17.4 trillion in 2022, good for a growth rate of more than 4.4%.

For comparison, estimates are for U.S. GDP growth to be below 2% for the 2022 year. 

China Bear: Muddy Waters, a renowned short-selling research firm, tweeted that reading Bloomberg’s report was “like reading the Onion.” It’s safe to assume that Muddy Waters did not believe in China’s supposed growth rate.

Muddy Waters had long been critical of numbers coming from China. In 2011, the firm uncovered accounting problems at Sino-Forest, a company that claimed to be a leader in forestation in China. Muddy Waters released its report on Sino-Forest and the stock plummeted 82% and the company eventually filed for bankruptcy.

A couple of years later, Muddy Waters exposed similar problems at Link Motion Inc (NQ Mobile), another Chinese company. Muddy Waters said Link Motion was making up customers. Eventually, Link Motion’s stock fell more than 80% and its CEO was stepped down. 

China, which has recently lifted some of its "zero-COVID" policies, has seen a recent uptick in COVID-19 cases, increasing its economic uncertainty. But, Chinese stocks have been strong throughout the last month or so after the country eased its COVID-19 restrictions.

Can’t Argue With Returns: Alibaba Group Holding Ltd - ADR BABA is up nearly 65% from its October lows. The Invesco China Technology ETF CQQQ is up about 15% in the last month. 

Photo: TungCheung via Shutterstock