New rule to punish officials who give fake statistical data
Shi Jiangtao in Beijing 30 April 2009
Beijing has renewed its vows to clamp down on fake official data amid mounting allegations of notoriously unreliable statistics.
All officials would be subject to administrative punishment for forging or covering up statistics under a new rule taking effect tomorrow.
Xinhua said it was the first time that government officials would be held responsible specifically for “statistical corruption”, which it said had seriously undermined the government’s credibility. But mainland experts said the rule would be unable to curb the widespread practice of using false figures because the top leadership had yet to change criteria assessing the performance of growthobsessed local officials.
Official statistics, especially those on the economy, employment, mining accidents and natural disasters, are often said to have been fudged to maintain stability and meet other political purposes.
It was an open secret that local officials used bogus numbers to exaggerate local economic growth, impress superiors and win promotions, while many employees at statistics offices bowed to political pressure to report false data, Xinhua said.
“[Fudged] statistics have affected the quality of data, undermined the information basis for macro-control policies and tainted the image of the Communist Party and the government,” it said.
The rule - jointly released by the Ministry of Supervision, Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, and National Bureau of Statistics - was also aimed at preventing information leaks.
Top officials from government bodies and state-owned enterprises who gave instructions on faking statistics or took revenge on whistle-blowers of phoney figures could face demotion, dismissal or unspecified “criminal punishment”.
Officials who leaked data concerning state secrets, personal information and business secrets, or delayed the reporting of statistics, would face similar penalties.
However, experts were sceptical about the effectiveness and feasibility of the rule, saying it would do little to stamp out the rampant doctoring.
The government has long been criticised for failing to punish officials who are involved in faking statistics. A China Youth Daily survey found no officials above the county level had been penalised for fudging figures over the past 25 years.
Professor Liu Fuyuan , an economist at the National Development and Reform Commission, said local officials had been left with no choice but to fake official figures to please higher-level authorities and meet their own economic interests.
“We may have the so-called scientific outlook on development, but we have yet to see new criteria that evaluate local officials not simply by their ability to achieve a high growth rate,” he said. “Without that change, the rule will not make much difference.”
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New rule to punish officials who give fake statistical data
Shi Jiangtao in Beijing
30 April 2009
Beijing has renewed its vows to clamp down on fake official data amid mounting allegations of notoriously unreliable statistics.
All officials would be subject to administrative punishment for forging or covering up statistics under a new rule taking effect tomorrow.
Xinhua said it was the first time that government officials would be held responsible specifically for “statistical corruption”, which it said had seriously undermined the government’s credibility. But mainland experts said the rule would be unable to curb the widespread practice of using false figures because the top leadership had yet to change criteria assessing the performance of growthobsessed local officials.
Official statistics, especially those on the economy, employment, mining accidents and natural disasters, are often said to have been fudged to maintain stability and meet other political purposes.
It was an open secret that local officials used bogus numbers to exaggerate local economic growth, impress superiors and win promotions, while many employees at statistics offices bowed to political pressure to report false data, Xinhua said.
“[Fudged] statistics have affected the quality of data, undermined the information basis for macro-control policies and tainted the image of the Communist Party and the government,” it said.
The rule - jointly released by the Ministry of Supervision, Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, and National Bureau of Statistics - was also aimed at preventing information leaks.
Top officials from government bodies and state-owned enterprises who gave instructions on faking statistics or took revenge on whistle-blowers of phoney figures could face demotion, dismissal or unspecified “criminal punishment”.
Officials who leaked data concerning state secrets, personal information and business secrets, or delayed the reporting of statistics, would face similar penalties.
However, experts were sceptical about the effectiveness and feasibility of the rule, saying it would do little to stamp out the rampant doctoring.
The government has long been criticised for failing to punish officials who are involved in faking statistics. A China Youth Daily survey found no officials above the county level had been penalised for fudging figures over the past 25 years.
Professor Liu Fuyuan , an economist at the National Development and Reform Commission, said local officials had been left with no choice but to fake official figures to please higher-level authorities and meet their own economic interests.
“We may have the so-called scientific outlook on development, but we have yet to see new criteria that evaluate local officials not simply by their ability to achieve a high growth rate,” he said. “Without that change, the rule will not make much difference.”
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