According to Yin Zhongqing, deputy director of the Financial and Economic Affairs Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), the total amount of all local GDP added together is greater than the national GDP due to data fraud.
“There is a discrepancy between regional and national GDP figures and it has negatively affected the credibility of the government,” said Yin at a press conference on March 10 during the second session of the 13th NPC. “Some local governments tend to cook their books, inflate some statistics, or conceal some data to stand out from the competition.”
According to Yin, a number or factors contribute to data fraud. First, people do not comply with the law and data fraud persists despite repeated crackdowns. Second, local governments, businesses, and residents are overburdened with data calls from different government agencies. Third, many government agencies apply different standards, resulting in inconsistencies in the data collected. Fourth, punishment over data fraud is “too light.” Fifth, a lot of statistical indicators are still defined according to the planned economy and do not reflect actual development.
Source: Beijing News, March 10, 2019
http://www.bjnews.com.cn/news/2019/03/10/554694.html