Economic Daily:

China will conduct its fifth national economic census in 2023. How is the work going? What improvements will be made to the upcoming national economic census compared with the previous one? Thank you.

Kang Yi: 

Thank you for your questions and for allowing us to share more information about the fifth national economic census with the public. First, I will introduce the progress we have made in conducting the upcoming national economic census. The State Council issued a notice on carrying out the fifth national economic census on Nov. 17 last year to jump-start the work. The fifth national economic census is a major survey of national conditions and national strength carried out in the critical period of the beginning of building a modern socialist country in all aspects after the success of the 20th CPC National Congress. It's fair to say that this is also the first major survey on national conditions and national strength in the journey towards building a modern socialist country in all aspects, following the achievement of building a moderately prosperous society in all aspects. The NBS has thoroughly implemented major decisions and arrangements on statistical work deployed by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, regarding the fifth national economic census as a major statistical task, and making solid progress in the planning and coordination of the census.

First, we have carefully planned the general idea of the census and coordinately arranged the input-output survey. The NBS regards carrying out the economic census and input-output surveys in a coordinated manner as a major statistical task, as part of the Plan for Modernizing Statistical System during the 14th Five-year Plan period. In the second half of 2021, we launched special pilot projects in six regions, including Shanxi province, to evaluate the feasibility and necessity of coordinating the two surveys. We have concentrated on the service of the new development stage, promoted high-quality development, closely focused on the task of modernizing statistical system, and formulated the general idea of the fifth national economic census on the basis of extensively soliciting opinions from all sectors and in-depth discussions.

Second, we have completed special pilot projects and made solid progress in making plans for the census. From June to September 2022, the NBS carried out special pilot projects in 14 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities, including Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei, focusing on solving key and tricky problems and testing new content, methods and technologies for the census. Based on the results of the special pilot projects, we have formed the draft of the plan for the fifth national economic census. Currently, we are widely soliciting opinions about the draft plan from within statistical systems and relevant departments. 

Third, we have strengthened coordination among departments to promote the implementation of arrangements for the census. As a massive social system project, the economic census requires the close cooperation of all sectors of the whole society. Now, all regions across the country have started implementing census work in their localities.

Your second question is about the differences between the fifth national economic census and the previous one. First, the upcoming census marks our first time conducting input-output surveys in a coordinated manner. As an objective requirement to promote high-quality development, census and survey work is an important measure in advancing the modernization of statistical system and the national economic accounting reform, as well as in consolidating the quality of statistical survey data. It is not only convenient to coordinate survey tasks, integrate survey contents, optimize survey items, and reduce the burden of grassroots work, but also conducive to a more comprehensive and systematic collection of grassroots data, the coordination of statistical survey data, and better verification of relevant data, ultimately achieving a better connection between economic aggregate and structural data.

Second, we will further innovate the means and methods used for conducting the census and survey. This national economic census will widely use administrative records of departments to promote the application of electronic licenses and certificates during the process. We will also adopt new ways to carry out the census, combining online filling with handheld electronic terminals and on-site data collection. We will also encourage census respondents to submit census data via the internet.

Third, we will launch inspections on the census in due time. We will firmly hold the lifeline of census data quality, strictly implement the census plan, standardize the work process of the census, strengthen the inspection and verification of data quality throughout the whole process, and effectively prevent and punish behaviors of statistical fraud and fake statistics. We will include the census situation in the content of statistical inspections at an appropriate time.

For the next year, in accordance with the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, the NBS will steadily advance the establishment of census institutions, the construction of comprehensive pilot projects, the inventory work of various units, and the preparation work for census registration, to lay the foundation for the smooth implementation of the fifth national economic census and successfully complete the tasks of this year's census. The census will be a "comprehensive physical examination" of the national economy. With this, I would like to call for more support, understanding, participation and cooperation from every respondent engaged in this census. We also hope that our media friends will actively promote, support and supervise the census work.

Shou Xiaoli:

Due to time limitations, we can only answer two more questions.