EDITOR’S NOTES

I. China Statistical Yearbook 2015 is an annual statistical publication, which reflects comprehensively the economic and social development of China. It covers data for 2014 and key statistical data in recent years and some historically important years at the national level and the local levels of province, autonomous region and municipality directly under the Central Government.

II. The Yearbook contains twenty-seven chapters : l. General Survey; 2. Population; 3. National Accounts; 4. Employment and Wages; 5. Prices; 6. People’s Living Conditions; 7. Government Finance; 8. Resources and Environment; 9. Energy; 10. Investment in Fixed Assets; 11. Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation; 12. Agriculture; 13. Industry; 14. Construction; 15. Real Estate; 16. Wholesale and Retail Trades; 17. Hotels, Catering Services and Tourism; 18. Transport, Postal and Telecommunication Services, and Software Industry; 19. Financial Intermediation; 20. Science and Technology; 21. Education; 22. Public Health and Social Services; 23. Culture and Sports; 24. Public Management, Social Security and Social Organizations; 25. Urban, Rural and Regional Development; 26. Main Social and Economic Indicators of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR); 27. Main Social and Economic Indicators of Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR). Two chapters listed as Appendices are Main Social and Economic Indicators of Taiwan Province and Main Social and Economic Indicators of Other Countries/Regions.

To facilitate readers, the Brief Introduction at the beginning of each chapter provides a summary of the main contents of the chapter, data sources, statistical scope, statistical methods and historical changes. At the end of each chapter, Explanatory Notes on Main Statistical Indicators are included.

III. The national data in this book do not include those of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Macao Special Administrative Region and Taiwan Province, except for the divisions of administrative areas, the area of the national territory and forest resources and otherwise specified. In accordance with the principles set down in the Basic Law of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and the Basic Law of Macao Special Administrative Region, statistically Hong Kong, Macao and the mainland of China are three mutually independent regions, each following its own and different statistical systems and legal provisions in conducting statistical operations independently. Statistics on the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Macao Special Administrative Region as included in this yearbook are provided by the Census and Statistics Department of the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Statistics and Census Service of the Government of Macao Special Administrative Region respectively; and are edited by the National Bureau of Statistics.

IV. Eastern region, central region, western region and northeastern region in the Yearbook are divided as following:

Eastern 10 provinces (municipalities) include: Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Shandong, Guangdong and Hainan;

Central 6 provinces include: Shanxi, Anhui, Jiangxi, Henan, Hubei and Hunan;

Western 12 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) include: Inner Mongolia, Guangxi, Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Tibet, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia and Xinjiang;

Northeastern 3 provinces include: Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang.

V. The units of measurement used in the Yearbook are internationally standard measurement units, and newly published and implemented Product Categories are uniformly used.

VI. Please refer to the newly published version of the Yearbook for updated historical data. Statistical discrepancies on totals and relative figures due to rounding are not adjusted in the Yearbook.

VII. Notations used in the Yearbook：(blank space) indicates that the data are unknown, or are not available; “#” indicates a major breakdown of the total; and “*”or “①”indicates footnotes at the end of the table. About the notations in the chapters of Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR, please refer to the brief introduction in relevant chapters.

VIII. In comparison with China Statistical Yearbook 2014, following revisions have been made in this new version in terms of the statistical contents and in editing: The 18 chapter of “Transport, Postal and Telecommunication” is changed with “Transport, Postal and Telecommunication, and Software Industry”. Contents are added reflecting the 3rd National Economic Census and legal entities. Contents are added reflecting the integrated urban and rural household survey on income and expenditure. Main statistical tables are recovered about economic efficiency in the chapter of construction and real estate. Contents are added reflecting survey on innovation of product and technology. Contents are added reflecting ocean observation. Contents are added reflecting Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and Yangtze River economic zone. The 2011’s edition of standard industrial classifications is applied in this Yearbook unless these professionals of prices and otherwise specified. According to the new statistical report system, a few contents and indicators are adjusted.