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, producer price indices for
industrial products, purchasing price indices for industrial producers, 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 66,000 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
urban and rural households.
IV.
Producer Price Indices for Industrial Products
Producer prices for industrial products
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 industrial enterprises with
annual revenue from the primary activities at and above 20 million yuan. Typical units refer to the industrial enterprises
with annual revenue from the primary activities below 20 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.
(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 survey
catalog of Producer Prices for Industrial Products includes over 11,000
goods, and they are divided into 1702 basic classification; Survey catalog of Purchasing Price for
Industrial Producers includes over 6000 goods, and they are divided into
over 900 basic classifications.
(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: In
statistics of producer price indices for industrial products, the weight of
industrial small classification and above comes from the output value of
industrial sales by sector in industrial statistics; the weight of basic
headings of categories comes from weight survey of independent industrial
enterprise products. 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.