Beijing's state spending to prop up its companies was at least 1.73% of GDP in 2019, the most recent period for which comprehensive data is available

Retail sales contracted 3.5% in March, which points to increasingly flagging consumption weakened by Covid curbs on travel and social-distancing rules

Unexpectedly strong GDP data for the first quarter of 2022, not heavily affected by China's worse Covid-19 outbreak in two years, also fails to lift the market

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, China GDP rose 1.3% in January-March, but impacts from Covid lockdowns in Shanghai and other cities have hit retail sales, factories and employment

First-quarter growth, however, may have perked up due to a strong start early in the year

A few regions created the "illusion of economic development" by falsifying data and some local authorities issued secret instructions to intervene in manipulating data