The central government has decided to reform its current national statistics system to build a modern one characterized by "high-tech facilities, quality statisticians, efficient mechanisms and quality information" in the near future.
Zhu Zhixin, director of the National Bureau of Statistics, said the strategic objective for national statistics will have overall, long-term and fundamental impacts on the development of the country's statistics.
The strategic objective is to promote the development of China's statistics reform, ensuring that national statistics play a full role, meeting the needs of socialist market economy and guiding the development of China's data in the new century, Zhu said.
The current national accounts system was established using the concepts, principles, methodology and framework of the 1993 United Nations system of national accounts (SNA system), Zhu said.
"However, there are still major differences at present between the two," Zhu said.
"Such differences exist because China has long been practicing the material production system (MPS system) introduced from the former Soviet Union, and the basis of the national accounts is consequently weak," he said.
The system should exclude the remaining components of the MPS, include the items of SNA, while making some adjustments of the accounts and basic accounting sheets, he said.
"The country should try to establish a scientific national statistics methodology conforming with the socialist market economy," Zhu said.
"The current system has a number of problems."
These include the fact that statistics standards are not yet complete and unified and that present standards are currently not well implemented.
The system of statistics indicators is not systematic, coordinated or standardized with the co-existence of excess and shortage.
Methodologies of statistics surveys cannot meet the requirements while data quality from statistics reports is not guaranteed.
Sample survey methodology cannot meet the needs of the conduct of multiphase and multipurpose surveys, censuses have become a heavy burden and data from different sources are not consistent with one another.
The solutions to these problems require the establishment and implementation of a unified national system of statistics standards, Zhu said.
They need the establishment of a systematic, standard and easy-to-use system of statistics indicators.
And an advanced, suitable and reasonable methodology system that has periodical censuses as its basis, current sample surveys as its main methodology and other kinds of survey as its supplements should be established.
"China should speed up the establishment of a national statistics information network system," he said.
The system should efficiently provide comprehensive and in-depth products to meet the requirements of all categories of users and should eventually support macroeconomic control and provide services for the public, he said.
Information technology should be used in all the phases of the statistics process - including collection, transmission, processing, storage, analysis and dissemination - to improve the efficiency, quality and information handling capacity of the national statistics system.
Since China started its reform and opening up in 1978, statistics legislation has been gradually enforced, Zhu said.
But statistics legislation is not yet complete and cannot meet the requirements for data development under the rule of law. Violations of legislation take place often and cannot be stopped effectively.
"We view law enforcement as a long-term and basic strategic measure to ensure data quality," he said.
(China Daily May 16, 2002)
