All of China's economic and demographic data are now openly available on the Internet through the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) General Data Dissemination System (GDDS).

The move marks a major step forward in the growth of China's statistical systems, said Carol Carson, director of the Statistics Department of the IMF, Wednesday in Beijing.

China now had its own web page on the IMF website for the GDDS, which provided a complete description of the country's current statistical production and dissemination practices for macro-economic and socio-demographic data, as well as plans for improvements and technical assistance needs.

"This wealth of information will not only enhance the transparency of China's statistical practices, but will provide the international community with useful framework to develop and coordinate their technical cooperation projects with China," she said on the 50th anniversary of official statistics in China.

An expert with 40 years of work experience with statistics, Carson has so far worked in cooperation with statistical organizations of the IMF's 184 member countries. She said her past experience showed her the importance of China's statistics to the rest of the world.

"China has achieved prodigious progress in statistics during the past 50 years and I believe the plans it has laid for future development and the continual support from its government will be crucial for the success of China's official statistics in the next 50 years or beyond," she noted.

The GDDS includes data of five major economic sectors and is programmed to maximize the scope, frequency, rapid retrieval, quality, integrity and accessibility of the data. China joined the GDDS in April this year.

(People's Daily August 8, 2002)