Penalties to ensure census accuracy

China will strengthen the penalties for businesses and individuals providing false information in the fourth National Economic Census, to be conducted this year, and establish a data tracing and accountability system to ensure statistical quality, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday.

“Quality of data is the lifeline of the census,” Jia Nan, deputy head of the bureau, said at a media briefing held by the State Council Information Office.

The upcoming census will help the nation properly grasp new changes in its economic development, achieve highquality development, and improve the authenticity of economic data, she said.

The authorities have been taking action to guarantee the credibility of data in the census.

Businesses or institutions providing false or incomplete data in the economic census could be fined up to 200,000 yuan ($30,200), as specified in the Amendment to the Regulations on the National Economic Census (Draft), which was approved by the State Council on July 4, Jia said.

The amendment also stipulates that economic census bodies shall keep confidential respondents’ commercial secrets and the personal information that they gather when conducting the census, in order to ensure that accurate statistics are collected.