China's reforms for statistical accuracy continue
Source: Xinhua |
January 7, 2013, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
NEARLY 10 months after bypassing local governments to collect data directly from enterprises, the National Bureau of Statistics has moved to build backup repositories for deep data analysis and processing.
With one disaster recovery system going into operation at its office this month, the bureau will soon install another backup repository to ensure both data safety and deep analysis in the event of disasters.
The two systems, along with the National Data Center, which went into service in February to collect data directly from 700,000 enterprises, mark a milestone reform in China's statistical methodology.
The move has cut out "middlemen" in reporting, improved the transparency of data production and prevented redundancy among enterprises and statisticians, said Li Yutao, chief of the statistics bureau of Heilongjiang Province.
Previously, economic data submitted by enterprises had to progress through five links to reach the bureau. But with a click of the "submit" button, qualified enterprises can now report their raw data straight to the bureau.
The statistics departments at different levels can also access the system for online verification, inquiries and data analysis. Moreover, the system records the revisions made by each person, Li said.
The pilot program currently applies to only industrial and wholesale enterprises that post more than 20 million yuan (US$3.2 million) in total annual sales, as well as retailers posting over five million yuan in total annual sales.
Catering enterprises, starred hotels, certified construction companies and real estate developers need to have benchmark operating revenues of above two million yuan each to qualify.
In Heilongjiang, where some 10,000 enterprises are qualified to use the system, Li's bureau led an overhaul of existing documents and regulations that were inconsistent with the initiative and had them all annulled.
The provincial bureau then tightened inspections to root out irregularities and local officials who have meddled in direct data reporting.
Data quality has improved, as the system effectively solves the problems of pseudo-enterprises, book-cooking and a lack of standardization, Li said.
NBS chief Ma Jiantang said it is a primary political task of statisticians to improve the authenticity and accuracy of economic data.
"Making data right is the core task and first duty of statisticians, this provides solid support for decision-makers in charge of making macroeconomic adjustments," he said, emphasizing the need to further improve statistical methods and verify raw data from enterprises.
Call to protect statistics
Public doubts over the accurate measurement of the Chinese economy have existed for some time. More Chinese are calling for the central government to protect the independence of statistics departments when collecting data.
After the Survey and Research Center for China Household Finance of the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics announced that China's Gini index hit 0.61 in 2010, higher than the global average of 0.44, public concerns over incorrect statistics have been extended to perceived flaws in China's statistics methodology.
A key index that reflects the rich-poor gap in a given country, the Gini index measures income distribution on a scale of zero to one, with a reading higher than 0.6 signaling an astonishingly large income gap.
But there is no official figure for comparison in China, as the last time the Chinese government published a Gini index for the whole country was in 2000, when it stood at 0.412.
Ye Qing, deputy chief of the statistics bureau of Hubei Province, said the suspended release of the index indicates the complexity of the measurements involved.
Ma previously attributed the suspension to the lack of a standardized household survey system, as statisticians have long surveyed per capita net incomes in rural areas and per capita disposable income in cities.
A unified statistical method may be adopted this year, allowing the NBS to release residents' income and the Gini index along with first quarter economic figures, the 21st Century Business Herald reported, citing a NBS staff.
Another controversial measurement is the registered unemployment rate, which has barely budged beyond 4 to 4.3 percent since 2002.
The surveyed jobless rate issued by SUFE's Survey and Research Center for China Household Finance was 8.05 percent for June, almost twice the official figure.
Finance critic Ye Tan said the NBS should release the surveyed unemployment rates it has been tracking on a trial basis to go along with international practices.
Nicholas Borst, research associate and China program manager with the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said: "There are some problems with Chinese statistics, but that is not unusual for developing economies. Moreover, I think things are slowly moving in the right direction."
He cited meddling by local officials, misinterpretation by analysts and a failure to survey migrant workers as three major sources of problems.
With one disaster recovery system going into operation at its office this month, the bureau will soon install another backup repository to ensure both data safety and deep analysis in the event of disasters.
The two systems, along with the National Data Center, which went into service in February to collect data directly from 700,000 enterprises, mark a milestone reform in China's statistical methodology.
The move has cut out "middlemen" in reporting, improved the transparency of data production and prevented redundancy among enterprises and statisticians, said Li Yutao, chief of the statistics bureau of Heilongjiang Province.
Previously, economic data submitted by enterprises had to progress through five links to reach the bureau. But with a click of the "submit" button, qualified enterprises can now report their raw data straight to the bureau.
The statistics departments at different levels can also access the system for online verification, inquiries and data analysis. Moreover, the system records the revisions made by each person, Li said.
The pilot program currently applies to only industrial and wholesale enterprises that post more than 20 million yuan (US$3.2 million) in total annual sales, as well as retailers posting over five million yuan in total annual sales.
Catering enterprises, starred hotels, certified construction companies and real estate developers need to have benchmark operating revenues of above two million yuan each to qualify.
In Heilongjiang, where some 10,000 enterprises are qualified to use the system, Li's bureau led an overhaul of existing documents and regulations that were inconsistent with the initiative and had them all annulled.
The provincial bureau then tightened inspections to root out irregularities and local officials who have meddled in direct data reporting.
Data quality has improved, as the system effectively solves the problems of pseudo-enterprises, book-cooking and a lack of standardization, Li said.
NBS chief Ma Jiantang said it is a primary political task of statisticians to improve the authenticity and accuracy of economic data.
"Making data right is the core task and first duty of statisticians, this provides solid support for decision-makers in charge of making macroeconomic adjustments," he said, emphasizing the need to further improve statistical methods and verify raw data from enterprises.
Call to protect statistics
Public doubts over the accurate measurement of the Chinese economy have existed for some time. More Chinese are calling for the central government to protect the independence of statistics departments when collecting data.
After the Survey and Research Center for China Household Finance of the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics announced that China's Gini index hit 0.61 in 2010, higher than the global average of 0.44, public concerns over incorrect statistics have been extended to perceived flaws in China's statistics methodology.
A key index that reflects the rich-poor gap in a given country, the Gini index measures income distribution on a scale of zero to one, with a reading higher than 0.6 signaling an astonishingly large income gap.
But there is no official figure for comparison in China, as the last time the Chinese government published a Gini index for the whole country was in 2000, when it stood at 0.412.
Ye Qing, deputy chief of the statistics bureau of Hubei Province, said the suspended release of the index indicates the complexity of the measurements involved.
Ma previously attributed the suspension to the lack of a standardized household survey system, as statisticians have long surveyed per capita net incomes in rural areas and per capita disposable income in cities.
A unified statistical method may be adopted this year, allowing the NBS to release residents' income and the Gini index along with first quarter economic figures, the 21st Century Business Herald reported, citing a NBS staff.
Another controversial measurement is the registered unemployment rate, which has barely budged beyond 4 to 4.3 percent since 2002.
The surveyed jobless rate issued by SUFE's Survey and Research Center for China Household Finance was 8.05 percent for June, almost twice the official figure.
Finance critic Ye Tan said the NBS should release the surveyed unemployment rates it has been tracking on a trial basis to go along with international practices.
Nicholas Borst, research associate and China program manager with the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said: "There are some problems with Chinese statistics, but that is not unusual for developing economies. Moreover, I think things are slowly moving in the right direction."
He cited meddling by local officials, misinterpretation by analysts and a failure to survey migrant workers as three major sources of problems.
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