BRIEF INTRODUCTION

I. The data on the price indices in this chapter show the changing trend and the change rates in production, circulation, consumption and investment, etc., including mainly consumer price indices of residents, retail price indices, price indices of agricultural means of production, purchasing price indices of farm products, producers price indices of industrial products, and price indices of investment in fixed assets.

II. The statistics of price indices is organized by the Urban Socio-economic Survey Organization, NBS. The urban socio-economic survey organizations of the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government as well as the urban socio-economic survey organizations of the selected cities and counties collect statistical data from the grassroots units in accordance with the scheme of price survey stipulated by the NBS, tabulate them and report them to the higher agencies.

III. The data for calculation of the consumer price indices of residents and the retail price indices in China are collected with the stratified sampling method. Areas distributed in different economic regions are selected as the sample areas and the representative commodities are selected as the sample commodities. Regular surveys are conducted to collect the data on the market prices. The data on the population are estimated on the basis of the sample. At present, 226 cities and counties have been selected for this purpose. Following are major steps in the process of calculation of the price indices:

(1) The selection of the areas and places for survey: Based on such principles as regional economic features and reasonable geographic distribution, representative sample areas for the national survey are selected which include large, medium and small cities and counties. When the sample areas are selected, large-scale shops and markets (including fairs) with great varieties of commodities are selected as the survey places.

(2) The selection of the representative commodities and their specifications or varieties: The representative commodities are the commodities consumed in large quantity and representative in price changes. The representative specifications or varieties are determined according to the data on the retail sales of commodities and the account data of the residents of 36 thousand urban households and 67 thousand rural households, following the related instructions for selection. In principle, only those specifications or varieties of the commodities can be selected: (a) They are closely related to the social production and people's livelihood; (b) They are sold in large quantities (or big values); (c) They are stable in the market supply; (d) The changes of their prices are representative in trend; (e) There is great difference among the specifications or varieties selected.

(3) Survey way: Enumerators are sent to the survey places to take the records of the prices. Nearly 10 thousand assistant enumerators are invited to assist the survey work.

(4) The determination of the weights: The weights for calculation of the retail price indices are determined according to the total retail sales of commodities. The weights for calculation of the consumer price indices are determined according to the composition of the consumption expenditures of more than 90 thousand urban and rural households.

IV. Producers price of industrial products refer to the first sale price of industrial products. The survey ways include the key units survey and typical units survey. The key units refer to the industrial enterprises with annual sale revenue above 5 million yuans. The typical units refer to the industrial enterprises with annual sale revenue below 5 million yuans.

(1)The principle to select the representative enterprises:

(a) The survey enterprises are selected by industrial sectors. In principle, every branch should have survey enterprises; (b) All (or a majority of) large-sized enterprises should be selected; (c) The normal enterprises with stable production are listed as survey object; (d) Different types of ownership should be considered in selecting enterprises.

(2) The principle to select the representative products:

(a) The survey products are selected by industrial sectors; (b) The products are relative with national economy and the people's livelihood; (c) The products are more stable in production; (d) The foreground of products is representative in trend; (e) The products are typical and with local color.

There are 1386 kinds (including 3000 specifications or varieties) of industrial products listed in Industrial Products Content on Price Survey at present. The industrial sale value (or purchasing value) of these branches represented by these products is more than 70 percent of nationwide industrial sale value (or purchasing value).

(3) Price survey way: Enterprises reporting way is adopted. Nearly 20 000 industrial enterprises report the above data every month.

(4) The determination of the weights: The weights for calculation of the producers' price indices of industrial products are determined according to the total sales value of industrial products. The weights will replace every five years. The data for calculation root from industrial census. If there are not industrial census data recently, industrial statistical data and department statistical data will be used to estimate the weights.

V. The price survey of investment in fixed assets is not a kind of comprehensive survey. Data are collected by the survey on key units and typical units. The prices of the survey of investment in fixed assets are the actual purchasing prices or balancing prices of entity of investment in fixed assets. The survey content includes the gross output value of construction, the prices of main construction materials that composing the architecture engineering entity in the year, such as steel, timber, cement, local construction materials (such as brick, tile, calcareousness, sand, stone, etc.), chemical materials (such as oil paint, etc.) , the price of labor force as live laboring input, the standard of various fees, the purchasing price of equipment, tools and instruments and the prices of others investments.

The following principle to select the sample of price survey of investment in fixed assets should be followed.

(1) The principle to select the prices survey point of construction and installation: (a) Sample units should be a certain coverage; (b) The economic activity of investment is great representative; (c) Different economic types of ownership should be considered; (d) The key projects need to be selected; (e) Give attention to both various branches and types of project.

(2) The principle to select the prices survey point of others investments: The principle to select the prices survey point of others fees is general the same as that of construction and installation, especially to select the projects with great investment value. Since it is not easy to obtain the other fees, it should do the key survey on the construction owner units and building units assisted with typical survey (gotten from the administration department), in the actual operation.

(3) Price survey way: Enterprises reporting system is used together with the enumerators visiting method.

(4) The determination of the weights: The weights for calculation of the price indices of investment in fixed assets are determined according to the average proportion of construction and installation, purchase of equipment, tools and instruments and others investment in the 3 previous years.