Chinese statisticians are set for a challenging year in 2007 as
the government goes about reforming its statistical methods to
provide a better indication of China's economic health.
"Successful statistical work must be able to quantify
development in terms of energy conservation, industrial
restructuring and technical innovation as well reflect the changes
among the migrant population and employment," Xie Fuzhan, director
of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), told a recent work
conference in Beijing.
Over the past few decades, the government's statistical analysis
has focused narrowly on gross domestic product (GDP) and local
officials keen to climb the ladder have worshipped figures that
demonstrate rapid economic expansion.
But this year the central government has repeatedly stressed the
need for "quality" over "quantity".
One measure announced by the central government is to take back
local governments' rights to calculate regional GDP and to station
its own survey teams in local governments to prevent the
fabrication of figures.
One of the most important tasks of the year is to give more
weight to service economy statistics, Xie said. The NBS noted that
the tertiary industry made up 40.7 percent of GDP in 2004.
Xie said that the NBS hopes to constitute a framework for
service economy statistics by the end of the year, complete with a
set of efficient and uniform standards for information gathering
and statistics supervising.
In keeping with Karl Marx's Labor Value Theory which upholds
material production and plays down the service sector, China
adopted the Material Production System under its planned economy to
calculate national economic growth and ignored the production value
of the service industry.
Although China shifted to the System of National Accounts, an
international statistical standard for the measurement of the
market economy, in 1995, the country's service economy remains
underestimated.
Xie said the NBS was considering a direct information gathering
mechanism for enterprises engaged in retailing, wholesale, and the
hospitality industry.
Random inspections would also be launched this year targeting
property management, intermediary businesses, small retailers and
hotels, he added.
The statistical reform will certainly target the real estate
sector. "There is a gap between government property statistics and
what the general public feel. In some regions different figures
were released by various governmental departments, confusing both
the market and consumers," Xie said.
(Xinhua News Agency January 20, 2007)