Communiqué on the Fifth National Economic Census (No. 1)

2024-12-26 15:00 Print| Large| Medium| Small

Communiqué on the Fifth National Economic Census (No. 1)

——The fifth national economic census completed successfully

National Bureau of Statistics of China

Office of the Leading Group of the State Council

for the Fifth National Economic Census

December 26 , 2024

According to the Regulations on National Economic Census and the Notice of the State Council on Conducting the Fifth National Economic Census [No. (2022) 22], China carried out its fifth national economic census with December 31, 2023 as the reference time and the year 2023 as the reporting period. The economic census covered all legal entities, establishments and self-employed units which were engaged in the secondary and tertiary industries within the territory of China. According to the coordinated arrangements of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the State Council, with the co-efforts made by the census agencies in all government departments, all regions and at all levels, and with the arduous work of the enumerators over the past two years and the active cooperation of census respondents, the fifth national economic census achieved major accomplishments and significant outcomes with tasks in census design, entities inventory checking, census registration, post-enumeration check, data aggregation and evaluation all fully completed.

I. Strong Coordination and Leadership

On 31st March, 2023, the State Council set up the Leading Group for the Fifth National Economic Census with its head office at the National Bureau of Statistics to coordinate overall arrangements of the fifth national economic census. Upholding the principle of “unified leadership nationwide, labour division and cooperation among government departments, tiered responsibilities at local levels, and participation from all aspects”, local governments at different levels as well as relevant government departments set up census agencies, which provided solid and strong organizational guarantee to the census implementation. Local governments at different levels strengthened all-round leadership, carefully organized and implemented the census, and ensured the staff, funds and measures were all in place. Involved government departments actively fulfilled their responsibilities with functions fully played, information sharing intensified and multi-faceted guarantees provided, so as to collectively advance the successful implementation of this census.

II. A Full Picture of National Conditions

The fifth national economic census is an essential survey of China’s national conditions and strength conducted at a critical time when we embark on a new journey to build China into a modern socialist country in all respects and advance toward the Second Centenary Goal. From 1st January to 30th April, 2024, over 2.10 million enumerators at local levels made concerted efforts and overcame difficulties to complete census registration one by one from legal entities, establishments, and sampled self-employed units engaged in the secondary and tertiary industries within the territory of China as well as from selected units for input-output survey. For different types of census respondents, information concerning the basic situation, organizational structure, compensation of employees, financial situation, production and operation, energy production and consumption, fixed assets investment, research and development activities, information and communication technology application and digital transformation, digital economy activities and input and output situation were collected correspondingly. This census has fully measured the scale, layout and performance of the secondary and tertiary industries of China, got a clear picture of the basic situation of all types of units and grasped the economic linkages between sectors of the national economy. It has also objectively reflected the progress in promoting high-quality development, creating a new pattern of development, building a modernized economy, deepening supply-side structural reform as well as in innovation-driven development, coordinated regional development, ecological conservation, high-standard opening up and development of public service system, providing authentic and reliable statistical information for further deepening reform comprehensively to advance Chinese modernization.

III. Scientific and Normative Implementation

By the basic principle of “adhering to quality standards, approach innovation, collaboration and sharing, census by law and integration of economic census and input-output survey with separate goals and demands accommodated”, the Office of the Leading Group of the State Council for the Fifth National Economic Census (hereinafter referred to as the Office of the Leading Group) drew on experience from previous censuses, further optimized approaches and methods, and highlighted coordination, reform and innovation, with a view to conduct a more scientific and normative census. In terms of top-level design, with active exploration and comprehensive verification of two special pilot tests in six provinces (municipalities) and fourteen provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) respectively as well as of comprehensive pilot test in six provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities), it was decided that the input-output survey would be incorporated in the national economic census for the first time. The Plan for the Fifth National Economic Census was formulated to provide an all-dimensional institutional guarantee for the census implementation. With regard to the methodology, inventory checking was taken before census registration. A thorough inventory checking was conducted on all legal entities, establishments and self-employed units engaged in the secondary and tertiary industries within the territory of China to ensure the accurate demarcation of census respondents and no duplication or omission of census units. On the basis of inventory checking, a full-coverage survey was conducted on legal entities and establishments engaged in the secondary and tertiary industries, a sample survey was conducted on self-employed units, and an input-output survey was conducted on selected units synchronously. Relevant government departments carried out surveys on units within their respective industries and sectors. In terms of technology applied, a unified data collection and processing platform featured integration, efficiency, security and reliability was built; a mini-program installed on the mobile terminals was used to collect census data at local levels; census respondents were supported to report data online on their own; the application of electronic ledger for input-output survey was promoted; and more information technology were adopted when managing and training census personnel. Automated phone survey, big data assistance and other approaches were innovated and applied at local levels to improve the census quality and efficiency. Through this census, the statistical survey projects have been integrated and optimized, the statistical methodologies have been improved, and the statistical monitoring in key areas has been strengthened. With the statistical foundation further consolidated, the modernization reform of statistics has been deepened, and solid steps have been taken towards the goal of better serving high-quality development.

IV. Data Quality Assurance

The fifth national economic census adopted the whole-process data quality assurance mechanism. The Office of the Leading Group formulated the Measures for Comprehensive Management of Census Quality, included the census related work into the scope of regular statistical inspections, strictly implemented statistical law enforcement inspection, and ensured responsibilities were fulfilled for census data quality. Census agencies at local levels thoroughly implemented the census plan, established and improved the post responsibility and accountability system for data quality, selected and built a strong census team, took multiple measures to conduct training and provide guidance, coordinated census personnels at local levels to strictly follow census procedures and quality standards for data collection and review, so as to ensure the quality of source data. The quality monitoring and analysis of census data was strengthened, with data review and check conducted synchronously with the census. Data review and acceptance were carried out at each level, and data check were taken comprehensively. To evaluate the effects of census work and the quality of census data, the Office of the Leading Group organized the post enumeration check after the registration period, sampling 21,000 units, 1,099 enumeration areas, and 249 counties (cities, districts, banners) from 31 provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) to check the compliance issues during the registration stage and to review major indicators. The check was carried out independently with random sampling as the method. Volunteered supervisors engaged in the whole-process supervision were recruited from the public to ensure the check results were objective and fair. The post enumeration check showed that the combined error rate was 4.7‰, which has reached the standard set for data quality.

Generally speaking, the expected goals for the fifth national economic census were reached. With the plan design, the organization and implementation of the census carried out in a scientific, normative and orderly manner, and the whole process being open and transparent, the census portrayed a general picture of China's secondary and tertiary industries and truly reflected China's social and economic development. The census results showed that by the end of 2023, a total of 33.270 million legal entities were engaged in the secondary and tertiary industries, up by 52.7 percent compared with the number by the end of 2018 (2018 was the year for the fourth national economic census, the same applies hereinafter). The number of persons employed was 428.984 million, up by 11.9 percent. The number of self-employed units was 87.995 million with 179.564 million persons employed.

(In case of any difference between English translation and the original Chinese text, the Chinese edition shall prevail.)