Workers make solar photovoltaic modules at a factory in Hai'an, East China's Jiangsu Province on June 19, 2023. Hai'an has been ramping up efforts to upgrade the local industrial chain, aiming to further elevate the competitiveness of the PV industry. China's total export of PV products exceeded $51.2 billion in 2022, up 80.3 percent year-on-year, industry data showed. Photo: cnsphoto

China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has set up an inspection team to carry out a special statistical inspection in six provinces in late July, in an effort to prevent statistical frauds and check the implementation of previous rectification measures.

It is the first special inspection launched this year, to cover North China's Hebei Province, Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Central China's Henan and Hunan provinces, Southwest China's Guizhou Province and Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, the NBS said in a statement released on Tuesday.

One inspection team has arrived in Hebei, according to Hebei Daily on Wednesday.

In a meeting with local officials on Tuesday, deputy head of NBS Mao Youfeng said that the central government has made a series of decisions and requirements on deepening the reform of the statistical system, to prevent frauds and improve the authenticity of data.

The actions fully demonstrate the central government's clear attitude and firm determination to seek truth from facts and combat fraud, Mao said.

China has taken a tougher approach on its fight against data fabrication over recent years. The NBS held a video mobilization conference on addressing statistical falsification in May 2022.

Statistical falsification is the biggest form of corruption in the sphere of statistics and inflicts harm on the creditability of governmental data, Kang Yi, head of the NBS, said while addressing the meeting. He urged a fight "with real teeth" against statistical fabrication.

Only when the data is true, accurate, complete and timely, can they accurately reflect the economic and social situation, Kang said at a press conference in March, vowing to take action and ramp up law enforcement efforts to ensure data integrity.

From 2019 to 2021, the NBS has set up 43 teams to carry out statistical inspections in 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps and also cover 12 departments under the State Council.

Global Times