China's statistics system is vulnerable to manipulation by local governments, and drastic reforms are urgently needed, a report in a state-owned newspaper warned yesterday.
'In recent years, some local governments have taken advantage of loopholes in the country's statistical mechanism to draw up false reports. Some tend to report an artificially high economic growth rate to gain political points, regardless of actual conditions,' a China Daily commentary said.
'The country's statistical system relies heavily on reports from local governments. The process is vulnerable to local manipulation of figures.'
The article added that the problems cast a shadow on China's robust growth figures of recent years and sullied the country's image.
'Although it is unfair to deny China's reputation as a fast-growing economy in the world, simply because some of its statistics supposedly do not hold water, the statistical flaws are eroding the country's international image,' it said.
At the Boao Forum for Asia on Hainan Island on the weekend, Raymond Chien Kuo-fung, a Hong Kong businessman and member of the Executive Council, questioned Premier Zhu Rongji about the accuracy of Chinese statistics.
