General Survey

I. This chapter covers the summary data on the national economy and data on the social and economic development of the minority national autonomous areas.

II. In the summary data on the national economy, the data on the number of grassroots units in various sectors are extracted from the concerned data in other chapters in this yearbook with the exception that the number of geological survey and prospecting teams is provided by the Ministry of Land and Resources; the number of transport grassroots units are provided by the Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Communication and the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

III. Data on the minority nationality autonomous areas and the minority nationalities are composed of two parts:

(1) The data collected from the surveys mainly on the areas. A statistical reporting scheme on the economic and social development in the minority nationality autonomous areas has been assigned jointly by the State Ethnic Affairs Commission and the National Bureau of Statistics and implemented by the ethnic affairs commissions and the statistical bureaus of 20 provinces and autonomous regions. The statistical coverage includes all the units under the jurisdiction of the minority nationality autonomous regions, autonomous prefectures and autonomous counties. There is no duplicated computation in the national tabulation. In addition, the data on the public health of the minority nationality autonomous areas are provided by the Ministry of Public Health. The data on the divisions of administrative areas of the minority nationality autonomous areas are tabulated and prepared in accordance with the Annual Concise Edition of the Divisions of Administrative Areas edited by the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

(2) The data collected from the surveys mainly on the minority nationalities. They chiefly show the social development of the minority nationalities. Among them, the data on the students and teaching staff of the minority nationalities are provided by the Ministry of Education; the data on the excellent athletes and coaches are provided by the State Sports Administration; and the data on the publications of the minority nationality languages are provided by the Press and Publication Administration.

IV. In 1992, the National Bureau of Statistics (then State Statistical Bureau) and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce jointly formulated Interim Regulation of the Classification of Economic Ownership, which played a positive role in reflecting the ownership structure and its change in China. However, this classification was no long appropriate to the economic situation of China. In order to give a full reflection of the current economic structure where the public ownership retains the dominant position while developing diversified forms of ownership in the light of the spirit of the 15^th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, and to better depict the progress of the adjustment and improvement of the ownership structure, the National Bureau of Statistics and the State Industry and Commerce Administration jointly developed in 1998 the Regulation on the Classification of the Registration Status of Enterprises, which has put into effect and used in compiling the annual statistics since 1998.