China's Communist Party leaders say the GDP goal is guidance, not a target

Bloomberg with the headline.

There is no way the 'around 5.5%' target previously announced will be reached, so the CCP is moving the goalposts.

We had indications of this in mid-July:

• Chinese Premier Li Keqiang signaled flexibility on the economic growth rate

And again just last week:

• China’s Politburo all but acknowledged its given up on hitting the growth target this year

There is some encouragement to be taken from the regard for data overcoming the groupthink and brown-nosing amongst he top of China's elite.