The National Bureau of Statistics published on Thursday a list of 30 government organizations and state-owned and private enterprises that violated the country's statistics law by refusing to provide data or by giving false figures to local census takers.

At the top of the list is the Veteran Cadre Bureau of the State Council's Commission for Supervision and Management of State-owned Assets. The bureau repeatedly declined to cooperate with economic census personnel even after it received negative publicity for its actions on China Central Television.

The blacklist also includes private and state-owned enterprises, a bank branch office, a government accounting office in Henan Province and a township government statistics bureau.

"Preparations have entered the crucial stage for the nation's first economic census, due to begin on December 31. We will intensify the crackdown on violations of the law to ensure that the census is a success," said Li Deshui, director of the National Bureau of Statistics.

Local statistics bureaus began registering entities and collecting preliminary data last summer, but there have been widespread reports of noncooperation. In Beijing, for example, a number of newer enterprises were not actually operating at their registered addresses; and some census takers said they were abused or even assaulted by business owners.

Additionally, in collating and verifying preliminary information the local bureaus have noticed a number of substantial discrepancies between data submitted for the census and that contained in other records.

Li noted that some local governments have submitted phony figures in the past, but the central government is determined to get accurate, timely and complete data in the ongoing census.

He stated that the data gathered during the census would be kept strictly secret and that no other government departments would be allowed to use the data as evidence to punish any individual or organization.

China's first nationwide economic census is designed to complete a database covering all sectors so that the government can draft plans for economic and social development. It will involve nearly 10 million statisticians and volunteers and could cost billions of yuan.

(Xinhua News Agency, China.org.cn December 3, 2004)