Customers buy fresh pork in a Costco warehouse store in Minhang District, east China's Shanghai, Sept. 19, 2019. (Xinhua/Liu Ying)

China on Friday revised its nominal 2018 GDP to 91.93 trillion yuan ($13.08 trillion), up 2.1 percent from its initial figure, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Friday.

And the change in the size of 2018 GDP will not significantly affect calculations for the 2019 growth rate, the NBS said.

Based on the current accounting system, China's annual GDP is subject to two accountings: one is the initial accounting for GDP, and the second is the final verification of the GDP. In the economic census year, the preliminary accounting of the current year's GDP will also be revised based on the economic census data. Compared to GDP growth of 16.8 percent, 4.4 percent, and 3.4 percent in the previous three economic censuses, the fourth national economic census has the smallest annual GDP revision. China's fourth national economic census was released on Wednesday.

The GDP revision is also adopted by other countries based on preliminary statistics, and statistical methods would be used to revise data, Cong Yi, a professor at the Tianjin University of Finance and Economics, told the Global Times on Friday.

Due to different methods or repetitive calculations by local governments, there would be some deviation in the outcome of the country's GDP data, and the revision is necessary, Cong said. Aside from the traditional calculation scope, which mainly focuses on the industrial sector, China's revision would target some emerging sectors that also increased their contribution to economic growth, such as online car hailing services, Cong noted.

China routinely revises its annual GDP data. The preliminary 2018 figure was revised over changes in the basic data after the economic census, and is carried out in strict accordance with the annual GDP accounting plan of the economic census formulated by the NBS, said a person in charge of the NBS' accounting department. 

The person said that the preliminary accounting of the 2019 GDP is based on the revised 2018 GDP. Although the 2018 GDP revision has increased in terms of volume, it will not have a significant impact on the 2019 GDP growth rate.