China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has established a
dedicated department responsible for investigating the publication
of misleading statistics.
"The new department will establish a mechanism for handling
cases involving officials meddling with and falsifying statistical
figures," an NBS spokesperson said.
Some officials had requested that statisticians fabricate
figures in order to improve their apparent performance, the
spokesperson said. And some of those producing the figures changed
the figures to please their superiors.
According to media reports China's annual economic growth rates
issued by the NBS have always been lower than those calculated by
the local governments of the 31 provincial areas of the Chinese
mainland.
In the first half of this year the NBS reported economic growth
of 10.9 percent. But figures from provincial governments indicated
a much higher rate. All the 31 provinces reported double-digit
growth with 23 of them reporting rates above 12 percent.
NBS officials said they'd always had to readjust figures
supplied by local authorities according to their own data in order
to make national figures more accurate.
The NBS spokesperson said Thursday that scrutiny from the public
was welcome and would be helpful in improving the quality of
statistics.
(Xinhua News Agency August 18, 2006)