Yesterday, Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan asked all statistical departments and staff to prepare for the upcoming first national economic census.

"The implementation plan of the census has been finalized and other preparations like staff selection and training are progressing well," said Zeng at a national conference held in Beijing.

He said the census is extremely important because it is a basis for national economic control and will benefit the government, companies and people.

All departments and individuals are being asked to report correct economic information, and to protect the legal interests of those taking part. Zeng emphasized that census officials have a responsibility to ensure the results accurately reflect the data.

Senior officials promised that the data collected would be treated anonymously and not used as court evidence. However, some government departments and companies still fear that they might be punished for having submitted inaccurate figures or evading tax in the past.

"The census is aimed at obtaining accurate data for macroeconomic policy decision making, not seeking evidence to prosecute anyone," said Li Deshui, director of the National Bureau of Statistics.

The census, scheduled to begin December 31, is designed to find out about secondary and tertiary industries and complete a database covering all sectors for future economic and social planning. It will involve nearly 10 million statisticians and volunteers and could cost billions of yuan.

State-level trial census programs have been launched in the three provinces of Jilin, Zhejiang and Sichuan and the city of Beijing this year.

Since establishing a cyclical census system in 1994, six general surveys have been carried out, but the statistics released have often been accused of being inflated or inaccurate. At present, China is engaged in overall reform of its statistical systems in an endeavor to reach international standards.

(Xinhua News Agency December 22, 2004)