Adjustment of GDP does not mean economy is overheating

China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revised the preliminary statistics they released for last year, raising the GDP growth rate from 9.9 to 10.2 percent on August 30.

It is normal for there to be a digital error in statistics and the GDP statistics should be revised regularly anyway, as more data becomes available, said Liu Fugen, an official from China's Reform and Development Committee.

A report released by the NBS on Wedesday revised the figures for China's 2005 GDP, raising it to 18.3 trillion yuan, up 10.2 percent from 2004.

Preliminary statistics, released in January, put the total GDP for 2005 at 18.2 trillion yuan, up 9.9 per cent from 2004.

It is normal for NBS to revise statistics, said Gao Ruxi, a professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. The GDP's 0.3 percent rate of increment reveals that China's economy grew faster than expected earlier this year. "If we had revised the 10.2 per cent rate of increment earlier, the government would have implemented macroscopic readjustments and controls earlier," he said.

The revised rate does not mean China's economy will accelerate further. China's economy is not active in general, said Liu Fugen. The problem in the Chinese economy is not 'overheating', but that the increase in GDP does not actually create many more jobs.

Furthermore, the new report shows that primary industries grew by 5.2 percent; secondary industries by 11.7 percent; and tertiary industries by 10 percent. The preliminary figures for the sectors were 5.2 percent, 11.4 percent and 9.6 percent.

The NBS amended its check and release system for GDP in 2003 so it would more accurately reflect the actual development of the national economy, dividing the system into three steps: preliminary calculation, preliminary check, and final check.

By People's Daily Online