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.
II.
Sources of Data
Compilation of
statistics on price indices is organized by the Department of Urban Social and
Economic Survey, NBS and the Department of Rural 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 59,000 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 over 600 specifications each month under 262 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 of the retail price indices are determined mainly
according to the total retail sales of commodities. The weights of the consumer
price indices are determined according to the composition of the consumption
expenditures of some 130,000 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-scaled enterprises should be selected; (c) Enterprises
selected should be those with normal and stable production; (d) Different types
of registered enterprises should be considered.
(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 representative to the
localities.
The current List of Manufactured Goods for the
survey includes over 4,000 goods (including 7,500 specifications or varieties).
The industrial sales value of the industries represented by these goods
accounts for more than 70 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 60,000 industrial enterprises which should report the price data every
month.
(4) Determination of
the weights: The weights 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 types of registration 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 Index for Farm Products
Price Index for Farm
Products refers to the actual price per unit through directly selling their
products by producers of farm products. The survey program of Price Index for
Farm Products is a combined use of sampling survey and typical units’ survey.
It covers main farm products produced and sold by the units surveyed.
Representative farm products include those in Agriculture, Forestry, Animal
Husbandry and Fishery, 90% of small classification in medium-sized
classification. The products are generally with large production and sales,
having great impact on the national economy and people’s living conditions,
with strong stability, with promising to new products and with local
characters. Representative products are for 5 years..
Period of survey is quarter, tabulated method is
weighted arithmetic average.