On April 24, 29 Chinese provinces and major cities released their first quarter GDP results. In 28 out of 29 cases, they reported growth higher than the national average of 11.9 percent, and 18 provinces reported growth higher than 15 percent. The figures were clearly exaggerated.

We all know inflating GDP figures is par for the course for local governments. When the 2009 figures were compiled, Ma Jiantang, head of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), publicly complained that local growth rates far exceeded the national figure of 8.7 percent. If accepted, they would have overstated China's GDP by trillions of yuan.

When a new Statistics Law came into force this January it was thought sanctions would be imposed on authorities that misreport data. But so far, no-one has been punished or even questioned.

Inflating GDP figures is a risk-free game that brings favorable publicity, and most local officials are happy to play it.

Ma Jiantang is now saying that government statistics gathering needs further reform and that the January law did not go far enough. But if this is so, doesn't it reflect badly on the legislature for not framing the law adequately?

Undoubtedly the economy picked up in the first quarter of this year, but there is a huge gap between the rosy pictures painted by local governments and the lot of ordinary people. This kind of mismatch undermines both the credibility of government and social stability.

The NBS should investigate extreme cases of falsification, and involve the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the Ministry of Supervision to make sure civil servants guilty of deception are punished severely.

If the authorities fail to take action the next set of figures will be yet further out of line and the NBS will be even more embarrassed.

(This article was translated by Chen Xia.)