(July 7): Influential Chinese economist Gao Shanwen, who challenged the reliability of China’s official growth data and was known for blunt assessments of the economy, has died, according to Chinese media reports.
Gao once advised the country’s regulators and top officials, and gained international prominence in late 2024 in publicly questioning China’s official growth figures. Speaking in Washington, DC, he said the economy was probably expanding at an average pace of around 2% — much lower than the officially reported pace of close to 5%. China ordered an investigation into Gao and disciplined him following the remarks, the Wall Street Journal reported weeks later.
Local media outlets including the Shanghai Securities News on Tuesday reported Gao’s death, citing anonymous sources. Shanghai Securities News cited an illness, while screenshots of messages bearing his name circulating on social media indicated he had cancer.
The reports cited Gao’s age as 55, but an official record suggests he would have been 54. He was born in September 1971, according to a stock exchange filing by China Pacific Insurance Group Co, where Gao served as an independent board member.
The economist also sparked widespread debate in late 2024 when he described China’s young people as “lifeless” because of their weak employment prospects — comments that were later scrubbed from many Chinese social media platforms.
Gao joined the People’s Bank of China in 1995 before becoming chief economist at Everbright Securities Research Institute in 2003. Gao moved to Essence Securities in 2007 and remained chief economist after the brokerage was renamed SDIC Securities in 2023. He left the firm in November 2025, according to the Shanghai Securities News.
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