Brief Introduction
I.
Main Content
Data
on the price indices in this chapter show the changing trend and the change
rates in production, consumption and investment, 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, purchasing price indices of raw
materials, fuels and power, price indices of investment in fixed assets, and
real estate price indices.
II.
Source of Data
Statistics
on price indices are organized by the Department of Urban Socio-economic
Survey, NBS. The urban socio-economic survey organizations of the provinces,
autonomous regions and municipalities and of the selected cities and counties
collect 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.
Consumer Price Indices of Residents and Retail Price Indices
Data
for calculation of the consumer price indices of residents and the retail price
indices in
(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 and service outlets)
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 close to 50,000 urban
households and 68,000 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
large values); (c) The market supply is stable; (d) The changes of their prices
are representative in trend; (e) There is great difference among the
specifications or varieties selected.
At
present, data are collected on about 600-700 specifications each month under
251 basic headings in 8 categories in the consumer price surveys. For the
retail price surveys, data are collected on more than 500 specifications each
month under 225 basic headings in 16 categories
(3)
Data collection: 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 mainly 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 close to
120,000 urban and rural households.
IV. Producers’ Prices of Industrial Products
Producers’
prices of industrial products refer to the price of industrial products when
they leave factories. The survey program include the
key units survey and typical units survey. The key units refer to all
state-owned industrial enterprises and those non-state-owned industrial
enterprises with annual sale revenue above 5 million yuan.
The typical units refer to the non-state-owned industrial enterprises with
annual sale revenue below 5 million yuan.
(1)
Principle in selecting the representative enterprises:
(a)
Enterprises to be covered in the survey are selected by industrial sectors. In
principle, every branch should have enterprises selected; (b) All (or a
majority of) large-sized enterprises should be selected; (c) Enterprises with
normal and stable production are to be selected; (d) Different types of
ownership should be considered in selecting enterprises.
(2)
The principle to select the representative products:
(a)
The products are selected by industrial sectors; (b) The selected products
should have great impact on the national economy and the people’s livelihood;
(c) The production of the products selected are stable; (d) The foreground of
products is representative in trend; (e) The products are typical and with
local color.
The
present List of Industrial Products for the survey includes over 4,000 products
(including 9,500 specifications or varieties). The industrial sales value of
the industries represented by these products accounts for more than 90 percent
of total industrial sales value.
(3)
Data collection: Reports by enterprises are adopted. About 50,000 industrial
enterprises report price 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. Data from the industrial census are used
for the calculation. If industrial census data are not available for the
reference year, industrial statistical data and statistical data from other
agencies will be used to estimate the weights. The weights are replaced every
five years.
V.
Price Indices for Investment in Fixed Assets
Data
on prices of investment in fixed assets 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 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 input (wages), prices for renting of
building machinery and equipment, 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.
VI.
Price Indices for Real Estate
The
real estate in broad sense refers to the property in terms of buildings and
land. Therefore, the price survey on real estate covers the following items:
1)
Prices for selling houses and buildings. In terms of the types of houses sold
at the market, prices for selling houses include the prices for commercial
houses and for second-hand houses.
2)
Prices for renting houses and buildings. Included in this category are prices
for renting residential housing, office buildings, buildings for business or
recreational purposes, buildings for industrial or storage purposes, and
housing for other purposes.
3)
Prices for land transaction. Included in this category are prices for the
transaction of land used for residential housing, for industrial and storage
purposes, for business or recreational purposes and for other uses.
4)
Prices for property management. Included in this category are prices for
residential housing, office buildings, buildings for business or recreational
purposes, and buildings for industrial or storage purposes.
Survey
on real estate prices employed a combination of survey of key units and survey
of typical cases. Data are collected through reporting forms supplemented by
interviews.
The
survey on real estate prices at present is conducted in 70 large and medium
cities, with a sample of over 10,000 units.