Nation to begin economic census (Xinhua) Updated: 2004-12-22 09:44
Chinese vice premier Zeng Peiyan Tuesday asked all statistic departments and
staff to prepare for the upcoming first national economic census.
"The implementation plan of the census has been finished and other related
preparation like staff selection and training are smoothly promoted," said Zeng
at a national conference held here for preparation of the census.
Zeng said the census is extremely important because it is a basis for
national economic control and will benefit the government, companies and people.
He asked all departments and individuals report only factual economic
information. All work staff must protect the legal interest of the companies and
people involved in the census. Departments and officials must not change the
results of the census, he said.
Some senior Chinese officials repeatedly pledged secrecy for data collected
from the census to ease fears that it would be used as court evidence. However,
some governmental departments and companies still fear that they might be
punished for having submitted phony figures or evaded tax in the past.
"The census is aimed at obtaining accurate data for macro-economic policy
decision-making instead of seeking evidence to persecute anyone," said Li
Deshui, director of the National Bureauof Statistics at the Tuesday's
conference.
The census, scheduled to begin December 31, is designed to create a sketch of
China's secondary and tertiary industries and complete a database covering all
economic sectors for the central government to design future economic and social
plans. The census will involve nearly 10 million statisticians and volunteers
and could cost billions of yuan.
China has launched state-level trial census programs in three provinces of
Jilin, Zhejiang and Sichuan and the city of Beijing in this year.
Since establishing the cyclical census system in 1994, China has carried out
six general surveys, but its statistics released were often accused of being
"inflated or inaccurate." At present, China is engaged in an overall reform of
its statistical system to reach international standards.
