China's data manipulation prompts World Bank to end 'Ease of Doing Business' report

The World Bank said on Thursday, September 16, that it ended its Ease of Doing Business (EODB) report after major irregularities were found in it. The maximum number of irregularities were reported from China, followed by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Azerbaijan.

The irregularities involving board officials and bank staff members were found in the World Bank's 2019-20 report. The organisation said it will now work towards a new approach to assess the business investment climate. 

The Ease of Doing Doing Business report was reviewed independently by American law firm WilmerHale, which did a detailed study on 80,000 documents and evaluated several interviews to compile its report on the 2018 and 2020 EODB rankings. 

China's EODB data manipulation 

Data provided by the World Bank shows China with a score of 65.3 with a global ranking of 78. However, after reviewing the data, China's score stood at 64.5 and rank at 85, suggesting possible pressure from Beijing to reverse their ranking fall. 

Reportedly, the Doing Business team was given instructions by the then Chinese President Jim Yong Kim, and then CEO Dr Kristalina Georgieva was reported overseeing the capital increase campaign and later pressurised the report. Senior staff members from Kim's office were reportedly demanding changes in China's data points and a boost in ranking. 

The review report by the World Bank provided detailed information on the investment climate and stated a notable improvement was witnessed in several other economies including India, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, and others. 

Meanwhile, India is said to be the most preferred investment destination for world businesses as it is both reliable and trustworthy. Also, no irregularities were found in the Indian data. The recent details on the fraud by China will help the Indian economy as several initiatives can move their manufacturing to India.

On the other hand, last-minute modifications were made in the data of Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan on the basis of the team's preferences and personal biases. 

(Image: AP)