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Confusing housing data explained
Source: Xinhua |
May 13, 2011, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINA'S National Bureau of Statistics offered an explanation yesterday for a residential housing figure that confused the public.
A detailed explanation by Xian Zude, the bureau's chief statistician, was published on its website after the public voiced distrust and confusion over a housing figure it used to calculate the cost of living for Chinese citizens last year.
The bureau said in a report last week that residents on the Chinese mainland spent an average of 111 yuan (US$17.10) per month on housing in 2010.
Xian said the figure was a "narrow measurement" that only included utility fees, rent and building management costs, and did not account for mortgage amortizations for home purchases.
The figure was lower than the report's other figures, which stated that Chinese citizens spent a monthly average of 400 yuan on food, 165 yuan on transport and telecommunications, 136 yuan on education and entertainment and 120 yuan on clothing in 2010, according to the bureau.
"The public and several statisticians do not properly understand the source of the misleading data, nor do they know to what scope the figure can be applied," Xian said.
To use a broader measure of living costs in China's urban areas, the average amount spent on housing by urban residents was 636 yuan per month in 2009, he said.
Zheng Xuegong, the bureau official who released the misleading figure, apologized for the confusion on Wednesday, saying that the figure should be adjusted to over 636 yuan on the basis of gross domestic product growth.
The bureau will publish more housing data next Wednesday, according to Xian.
A detailed explanation by Xian Zude, the bureau's chief statistician, was published on its website after the public voiced distrust and confusion over a housing figure it used to calculate the cost of living for Chinese citizens last year.
The bureau said in a report last week that residents on the Chinese mainland spent an average of 111 yuan (US$17.10) per month on housing in 2010.
Xian said the figure was a "narrow measurement" that only included utility fees, rent and building management costs, and did not account for mortgage amortizations for home purchases.
The figure was lower than the report's other figures, which stated that Chinese citizens spent a monthly average of 400 yuan on food, 165 yuan on transport and telecommunications, 136 yuan on education and entertainment and 120 yuan on clothing in 2010, according to the bureau.
"The public and several statisticians do not properly understand the source of the misleading data, nor do they know to what scope the figure can be applied," Xian said.
To use a broader measure of living costs in China's urban areas, the average amount spent on housing by urban residents was 636 yuan per month in 2009, he said.
Zheng Xuegong, the bureau official who released the misleading figure, apologized for the confusion on Wednesday, saying that the figure should be adjusted to over 636 yuan on the basis of gross domestic product growth.
The bureau will publish more housing data next Wednesday, according to Xian.
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