Battle to find real numbers
9/3/2005 8:28
If local government reports were true, the country's gross domestic
product growth for last year would have been between 13 and 15 percent, said Li
Deshui, the nation's top statistician.
"The GDP figures I received from
various provincial governments were 2.66 trillion yuan (US$320 billion) or 3.9
percentage points higher than the counting of my bureau," said Li, director of
the National Statistics Bureau and also a member of the CPPCC. The NSB confirmed
GDP at 13.65 trillion yuan last year, 9.5 percent higher than 2003.
"The gap
between regional and national statistics regarding GDP growth has existed for
many years. And the more rapidly the economy grows, the wider the gap will be,"
said Li while discussing with fellow advisers about the "authenticity and
trustworthiness" of the country's economic data.
"For several years, reported
GDP figures from the county-level governments across the country have remained
about 6 percentage points higher than the national counting," said Li. "No
wonder some people are suspicious of China's statistics." However, Li said the
NSB has "adopted internationally accepted standards and procedures" based on
data collected by "independent investigation teams."
But the bureau chief
also lamented that while the NSB can largely be transparent and impartial and
defend the authenticity of its statistics, "our provincial bureaus may not be so
as they are often under pressure from local governments."
Amidst fast
economic growth, some regional governments have developed GDP worship or GDP
euphoria - using figures as important yardsticks in the performance evaluation
and promotion of officials, said Zhang Dawei, director of the Henan Provincial
Development Planning Committee.
"Such inclination has partially encouraged
officials to cheat with statistics to overstate regional economic growth and
their personal competence as well," added Zhang.
Wang huaizhong, the
notorious former vice-governor of eastern Anhui Province, who was executed last
year for taking bribes valued at 5.17 million yuan over seven years, was found
to have earned earlier promotions by fabricating high GDP growth rates.
As
the mayor of Fuyang City, Wang allegedly reported a GDP growth projection of 22
percent, though actual growth was only 4 percent.
False statistics also
aroused the attention of top leaders. The State Council, or the Cabinet, held a
meeting in October and urged statistics bureaus to provide authentic data that
can be used by policymakers. Also in October, Jiang Zhenghua, vice chairman of
the NPC Standing Committee, demanded a nationwide campaign to "squeeze out false
elements in statistics."
The top legislature later sent four investigation
teams to audit work at provincial statistics bureaus which was described by the
media nationwide as an "authentication storm."
Nsb head Li pledged on Monday
the bureau would further intensify its efforts to ensure data authenticity by
improving internal working procedures and tightening the auditing of figures
reported by provincial bureaus.
"But it's equally important for local
governments to reconsider how officials are evaluated," he said.
Premier wen
Jiabao earlier urged governments at all levels to engineer economic growth and
social progress with a scientific outlook on development. He said the
government's development philosophy needs to shift from growth-centered to
people-centered.
(Xinhua)
Xinhua
|
