Brief Introduction
I. Main Contents
Data
on price indices in this chapter show the changing trends and the change rates
in the prices of production, trade, consumption and investment, including
mainly consumer price indices, retail price indices, price indices for means of
agricultural production, producer price indices for farm products, ex-factory
price indices for industrial products (or producer price indices for
manufactured goods), purchasing price indices for raw materials, fuels and
power, price indices for investment in fixed assets, and price indices for real
estate.
II. Sources of Data
Compilation
of statistics on price indices is organized by the Department of Urban Social
and Economic Survey, NBS. The urban socio-economic survey organizations of the
provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central
Government and of the selected cities and counties collect data from the
grassroots units in accordance with the scheme of price survey system
stipulated by the NBS, tabulate them and report them to the higher agencies.
III. Consumer Price Indices and
Retail Price Indices
Data
for compilation of the consumer price indices and the retail price indices in
(1) The selection of areas and survey
points: 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 have been selected, large-scale shops and markets (including
fairs and service outlets) with wide variety of commodities are selected as
survey points.
(2)
The selection of representative commodities and their specifications or
varieties: The representative commodities selected are those 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 consumption expenditure account data of the residents of
56,000 urban households and 68,000 rural households; and selection follows the
related instructions. The principles for selection are: (a) The commodities are
closely related to social production and people’s living conditions; (b) They
are consumes (or 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 heterogeneity among the specifications or varieties
selected.
At
present, data are collected on some 600-700 specifications each month under 263
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 229 basic headings in 16 categories.
(3)
Method of data collection: Enumerators are sent to the survey points to take
the records of the prices. Nearly 10 thousand assistant enumerators are
recruited to assist the survey work.
(4)
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 some
120,000 urban and rural households.
IV. Producer Price Indices for
Manufactured Goods
Producer
prices for manufactured goods refer to the ex-factory price of manufactured
goods when they are first sold. The survey program is a combined use of the key
units’ survey and typical units’ survey methods. Key units refer to those
non-State-owned industrial enterprises with annual revenue above 5 million yuan. Typical units refer to the industrial enterprises
with annual sale revenue below 5 million yuan.
(1)
Principles for 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
selected should be those with normal and stable production; (d) Different types
of ownership should be considered in selecting enterprises.
(2)
Principle for the selection of representative goods:
(a)
The goods are selected by industrial sectors; (b) The selected goods should
have great impact on the national economy and people’s living conditions; (c)
The production of the goods selected are relatively more stable; (d) The
prospects of the goods selected are promising; (e) The goods selected are
typical to the place in question.
The
current List of Manufactured Goods for the survey includes over 4,000 goods
(including 9,500 specifications or varieties). The industrial sales value of
the industries represented by these goods accounts for more than 90 percent of
total industrial sales value of all the country.
(3)
Method of data collection: The method of reporting forms by enterprises is
adopted. There are about 50,000 industrial enterprises which should report the
price data every month.
(4)
Determination of the weights: The weights for calculation of the producer price
indices for manufactured goods are determined according to the total sales
value of manufactured goods. Data from the industrial census are used for the
calculation. If 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 a program involving
the combined use of surveys on key units and surveys on typical units. The
prices collected in the surveys of investment in fixed assets are the actual
purchasing prices or settlement prices of entities of investment in fixed
assets. The survey content includes the prices of main construction materials
that constitute the architectural engineering entity in the year, such as
steel, timber, cement, local construction materials (such as brick, tile,
calcareous ashes, 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 principles should be followed in selecting the sample for the price
survey of investment in fixed assets:
(1)
Principles for selecting the survey points of construction and installation:
(a) Sample units should have a good coverage; (b) The economic activity of
investment should have strong representativeness; (c) Different economic types
of ownership should be considered; (d) key projects should be selected; (e)
Attention should be given to various sectors of the national economy and types
of projects.
(2)
Principles for selecting price survey points of other fees: The principles for
selecting survey points of others fees is in general the same as that of
construction and installation, with special attention being paid to selecting
projects with huge investment value. Since it is not easy to obtain the other
fees, during the actual data gathering operations, survey on key construction
owner units and building units is to conducted concurrently with survey on
typical units (with information from administration units)
(3)
Method of price survey: A combination of enterprises reporting system and
enumerator visits method.
(4)
Determination of the weights: The weights for calculation of the price indices
for investment in fixed assets are determined according to the average
proportion of construction and installation, purchase of equipment, tools and
instruments and other investments in the 3 preceding years.
VI. Price Indices for Real Estate
In
the broad sense real estate refers to properties in terms of both buildings and
land. Therefore, the price survey on real estate covers the following items:
1)
2)
Renting price of houses. 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)
Transaction prices of land. 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)
Property management price. 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-sized cities, with a sample of over 10,000 units.