Data Flash is a brief interpretive summary of China’s official monthly economic data release.

As 2015 came to a close, China’s economic data remained mixed. It seems as though authorities pushed through just enough infrastructure spending at the local level to stabilize macroeconomic growth in the fourth quarter. Increased sales and production in the automotive sector aided overall growth toward year-end as well, as the 50 percent tax cut (i.e., taking taxes down to 5 percent from 10 percent, previously) that the government enacted in late September for light vehicles continued to boost activity in the sector.