Bloomberg:

There were reports the Tianjin Binhai New Area had some inaccuracies in the submission of local GDP data. In addition, Inner Mongolia also provided inaccurate figures in its industry report. I would like to ask if there are any other similar incidents as this. How will China punish these local governments for not accurately reporting economic data? On the issue of local debt, what measures does the Chinese government plan to take? Thank you.

Ning Jizhe:

This issue is not only one of media concern, but also a matter of great concern to the National Bureau of Statistics. In recent years, various regions and departments have done a great deal of work in implementing the "Instructions on Deepening the Reform of Statistical Management System and Improving the Authenticity of Statistical Data" passed by the Leading Group for Deepening Overall Reform of the Central Committee of the CPC and the "Regulations for the Enforcement of Statistical Law" issued by the State Council, with emphasis on improving the quality of statistical data. I should say, the quality of Chinese statistics in general, and that of local statistics, are constantly improving. 

Of course, the specific situations you mentioned are a different issue, which have been reported by the media. China's statistical data and statistical accounting system will not be affected by the existence of some problems in data credibility in a handful of places, or in some enterprises and some institutions. 

During the 1990s, China's accounting system was transformed from the material product system (MPS) to the national account system (NAS) and accounting was done at different levels. In the process of accounting for national data by the National Bureau of Statistics, the industrial survey adopts the direct network reporting system, agricultural surveys use the sample survey, and the service industry surveys have been increasingly using e-government and e-commerce data in recent years. Meanwhile, local governments also account data according to the measures adopted by the national statistical system. 

The addition of local data exceeds the national total, which is the result of the accounting at different levels. However, after years of hard work this gap has narrowed, although there is still a gap. For example, the total local GDP in 2016 was 3.6 trillion yuan higher than the national figure. The Central Committee of the CPC and the State Council have clear minds about the important direction for the accounting system reform: to implement unified accounting of regional GDP, and they have already determined a timetable and the tasks, according to which unified accounting will be implemented by 2019. Therefore, we must redouble our efforts to complete the task of statistical accounting reform on schedule. We think the gap has narrowed in the past one or two years. What you mentioned involve local data in some places, which doesn't affect the credibility of national statistics.

On the other hand, statistics in China are conducted in accordance with laws and regulations. For local governments, enterprises and institutions that are alleged to be providing inaccurate figures, we will find out, verify and solve the problems according to laws and regulations. This also includes revision and publication of data. At the same time, for a handful of local governments, enterprises and institutions that commit fraud and other violations of statistical laws and regulations, no matter whether they drew up false statistics, or concealed data, or refused to report required data, they all must be dealt with according to laws and regulations. You mentioned some specific circumstances, and we are verifying them. The final revision and publication of the data must be conducted in accordance with the laws and regulations related to statistics. Some of the data may relate to finance, such as the local debt issue you just mentioned, and I'd suggest that you seek answers from the Ministry of Finance. Thank you.

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