Chinese vice premier stresses national economic census

Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli on Thursday said the third national economic census is a key survey on the country's conditions and power as China is advancing toward completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects.

The economic census should provide basic information to cope with risks and challenges and promote continuous and healthy economic growth, Zhang said.

Accurate data should be the soul of statistics and data quality is the lifeblood of economic census, Zhang said.

The census data must be real, complete, reliable and solid, but should not be inflated or even false, Zhang said.

The target of the census lies in its application and the census data should be analyzed in a comprehensive way to pinpoint development trends and provide guidance for macro-economic policies, Zhang said.

China launched its third economic census in 2013 and during the year-long census, statisticians will collect data related to enterprise ownership, financial status, production capacity and research and development activities.