China's first national economic census is progressing smoothly, State statistics authorities say, pledging that scientific and systematic statistical measures would be adopted to provide accurate economic information for the government's future work plan.

Li Deshui, director of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), said the economic census offices had been set up in all municipalities directly under the central government, provinces and autonomous regions.

"We've launched State-level trial programs in three provinces of Jilin, Zhejiang and Sichuan and the city of Beijing," said Li, "The final revision of the census plan will be completed by the end of July this year."

Marked as China's first and largest economic census, the current 2004 grand survey is designed to draw an economic panorama of China's secondary and tertiary industries and complete the database covering all economic sectors for the Chinese government to outline its future economic and social plan.

The Chinese government has carried out six general surveys since establishing the cyclical census system in 1994, but statistics released were often accused of being "inflated or inaccurate".

Although admitting some local governments cheated in statistical figures in the past, Li Qiang, NBS' chief statistician and deputy director of the national economic census leading office, said the top priority of the current census was to ensure the government would get accurate, timely and comprehensive figures.

"Statisticians will use some effective measures to tell the credibility of figures gathered," he said, "we'll continue to reform our survey methods. Our goal is to improve the accuracy of statistics by keeping correcting errors."

At present, China is engaged in an overall reform of its statistical system to reach international standards.

The draft of the Census Law has been sent to the National People's Congress Standing Committee, the country's legislature, for discussion, which Li believed would provide a powerful legal guarantee for China's future surveys.

Besides, according to Song Xueqing, director of the information management department of the NBS' census center, the trial census programs will openly recruit volunteer census takers to help reduce the huge survey budget.

So far, Beijing has started the recruitment, which will have 40, 000 to 50,000 volunteers as the city's census takers, including 20, 000 college students and unemployed women in their 40s and men in their 50s.

"All the statistics worked out will be used as a reference for the government in decision making and in mapping out the country's five-year plans for economic and social development," he said.

In addition to this year's economic census, such general surveys will be conducted every five years.

(Xinhua News Agency May 17, 2004)