China's a 'Roach Motel'; Don't Trust the Numbers: Chanos

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New York. Sept. 20 hot stock picks .- China's economy continues to deteriorate despite the government's efforts to paper over the troubles, making the country's stocks ripe for short-selling, hedge fund titan Jim Chanos told CNBC. The head of Kynikos Associates may have been the market's most notorious China bear over the past few years, and he said his position has not changed.

In fact, he warned that investors should not trust the data coming out of the government as well as corporations in the world's second-largest economy, charging that he "would take issue with almost any corporate accounting in China."

"It's destined to suck Western capital into the country and have it never go out," Chanos said during a "Squawk Box" interview. "You're almost in a classic emerging market roach motel, except it's a really big one in that it's very difficult to earn adequate returns for capital and get your capital back as a Western investor."

On its face, China's gross domestic product growth is far from a recession level though the rate of growth has slowed.

The country's $7.6 trillion economy grew at a 7.6 percent rate in the second quarter, which would be good for most countries but relatively weak for China. Citigroup economists said Wednesday that the same pace likely will continue through 2013.

But Chanos charges that the underlying drivers in the economy are much weaker. ... Continue to read.

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