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Strategies & Market Trends : China Warehouse- More Than Crockery -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RealMuLan who wrote (4533)	3/9/2005 12:26:27 AM
From: RealMuLan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6370

China pledges to figure out true growth rates SCOTT REID BUSINESS EDITOR CHINA’S top statistician today pledged to scrutinise figures from local governments after a tally of the data dramatically overstated national economic growth last year. When added up, provincial figures for gross domestic product (GDP) put the country’s economic growth in 2004 at 13.4 per cent, compared with the National Bureau of Statistics’ official estimate of 9.5 per cent. Bureau director Li Deshui said: "For quite a few years, the GDP figures reported from the county-level governments across the country have remained about six percentage points higher than the national counting. "No wonder there are always some people suspicious of China’s statistics." Many economists question the accuracy of the country’s economic data, claiming that local administrations often inflate their figures to win political favour for delivering high growth. Last month, key provincial and city governments said they had trimmed their growth forecasts for the current year, citing the need to cool down and streamline local economies in line with central government efforts. The Chinese capital, Beijing, claimed growth of 13.2 per cent last year and is aiming for nine per cent in 2005, while the booming southern province of Guangdong set a target of ten per cent, down from the 14.2 per cent growth rate reported for 2004. The statistics bureau said it could adjust local data for such exaggerations but did not say how. Mr Li said "independent investigation teams" collected data for the bureau, which then used internationally accepted methods to produce a final GDP figure. He pledged to improve the reliability of China’s data by boosting internal procedures and more closely auditing provincial data. In his annual speech to parliament on Saturday, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao called on local governments to improve the quality and efficiency of their economies rather than blindly chase high growth figures. Last month, a senior government economist said China’s economic growth in 2005 was likely to exceed the government’s annual target of eight per cent. The economy of the world’s most populous nation grew 9.5 per cent last year despite the first interest rate rise in nine years, designed to head off inflationary overheating. Chief economist Yao Jingyuan said: "The general trend of the economy is sound. The government’s growth target is eight per cent, but I think the actual operations will exceed that." He said it was too early to reach a conclusion on inflation. The annual inflation rate has been declining since it reached a seven-year high of 5.3 per cent last summer. Falling inflation has reduced the likelihood that China will raise interest rates any time soon, analysts say. business.scotsman.com