All of China's economic and demographic data are now openly
available on the Internet through the
International Monetary Fund's (IMF)
General Data Dissemination System (GDDS).
The move marks a major step forward in the growth of China's
statistical systems, said Carol Carson, director of the Statistics
Department of the IMF, Wednesday in Beijing.
China now had its own web page on the IMF website for the GDDS,
which provided a complete description of the country's current
statistical production and dissemination practices for
macro-economic and socio-demographic data, as well as plans for
improvements and technical assistance needs.
"This wealth of information will not only enhance the transparency
of China's statistical practices, but will provide the
international community with useful framework to develop and
coordinate their technical cooperation projects with China," she
said on the 50th anniversary of official statistics in China.
An
expert with 40 years of work experience with statistics, Carson has
so far worked in cooperation with statistical organizations of the
IMF's 184 member countries. She said her past experience showed her
the importance of China's statistics to the rest of the world.
"China has achieved prodigious progress in statistics during the
past 50 years and I believe the plans it has laid for future
development and the continual support from its government will be
crucial for the success of China's official statistics in the next
50 years or beyond," she noted.
The GDDS includes data of five major economic sectors and is
programmed to maximize the scope, frequency, rapid retrieval,
quality, integrity and accessibility of the data. China joined the
GDDS in April this year.
(
August 8, 2002)