Just how far are China’s local officials going in falsifying performance data?

Beijing has publicised three cases of local governments falsifying achievements to boost their records, which involved manipulating revenue data, misusing special-purpose government bonds and concealing off-balance-sheet debt.

Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported on Sunday that a central working group and the Communist Party’s top anti-corruption watchdog had announced cases highlighting typical misconduct in official duties and performance evaluations.

The announcement came from the...