China dumps a load on data on the market on Friday in Beijing, which is actually late tonight New York time (10 p.m.), including second-quarter GDP, industrial production, and retail sales.

The numbers are likely to reinforce the notion thatChina’s economy is slowing down. By how much, and how much the leadership will admit to, and what they plan to do about it are the real questions.

Chinese Premier Wen Jaibao has made several very public comments about boosting the nation’s growth rate lately, including comment earlier this week. This has fueled some speculation that China’s economy is cratering faster and deeper than the  Communist Party is admitting publicly.

That China’s both fueled massive malinvestment and is now trying to wind it down in a controlled manner are well known. Tonight’s data dump may illustrate how well they’re managing that.

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