BEIJING – 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.

Local media outlets including the state-run Shanghai Securities News on July 7 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 gave 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, where Gao served as an independent board member.

Gao once advised the country’s regulators and top officials, and gained international prominence in late 2024 for publicly questioning China’s figures for gross domestic product. Speaking in Washington, he said the economy was probably expanding at an average pace of around 2 per cent - much lower than the officially reported pace of close to 5 per cent. China ordered an investigation into Gao and disciplined him following the remarks, the Wall Street Journal reported weeks later.

The outspoken economist also sparked widespread discussions in late 2024 when he described China’s post-pandemic society as being “full of vibrant old people, lifeless young people and despairing middle-aged people.” His candid remarks about the younger generation’s weak job prospects struck a chord, even though his speech was later scrubbed from some Chinese social media platforms. 

Some of his past comments stirred up intense debate. In a controversial speech in 2018, Gao argued that China’s meteoric economic rise was fundamentally rooted in its cooperation with the US. Stating that Beijing was “mentally unprepared” for the escalating frictions with Washington, he warned that if the country mismanages its relationship with the United States, young Chinese could be trapped in stagnation for the rest of their lives.

While some saw his remarks as unusually candid, critics slammed him for urging...