Renowned Chinese Economist Gao Shanwen Dies at 55

Kathmandu. Renowned Chinese economist Gao Shanwen, who gained international attention by publicly questioning China's official Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data, has died at the age of 55. Following his death, a wave of tributes has swept across Chinese social media, with many users calling him a rare economist who spoke the truth.

Gao, the former chief economist of state-owned investment group SDIC Securities, died due to illness, Shanghai Securities News reported. However, details of when he died have not been made public. Gao was considered one of the most influential macroeconomists in China's capital market.

Gao Shanwen gained worldwide attention after his remarks at an international conference held in Washington D.C., USA, towards the end of 2024. At an event jointly organized by the Peterson Institute for International Economics and a Chinese think tank, he stated that China's actual economic growth might have averaged only about 2% in the last two to three years.

This figure was significantly lower than the official economic growth rate of around 5% released by the Chinese government. Gao's remarks were seen as a direct challenge to Beijing's official stance, as China has a tradition of setting economic growth targets every year and often announcing that those targets have been met.

His statement was also analyzed as bolstering the international doubts that have long been raised about the credibility of China's economic data.

After those remarks, Gao was not seen in public events for about a year. He then reappeared publicly only for a brief video address at a Peking University event in September 2025.

During that period, there was speculation that he was under government investigation. However, according to a person close to him, Gao had informed his friends and colleagues in January 2025 that he had cancer.