• Scope of Database
• Data Sources
• Data Items
• Units
• Updates

Scope of Database

The database includes data items relevant to assessing the supply and demand for major agricultural commodities in China. The items are selected by ERS and are a small subset of the official statistics published by the Chinese government. The database includes only official statistics published by the Chinese government. In some cases, they may differ from Chinese statistics in other USDA statistical publications or databases.

Data Sources

Most data are published by the China National Bureau of Statistics (NBS, China's official statistical agency) in the annualChina Statistical Abstract, China Statistical Yearbook, Rural Statistical Yearbook, Rural Household Survey Yearbook, Urban Household Survey Yearbook, and China Monthly Economic Indicators. NBS conducted agricultural censuses that provide benchmark data on rural employment, cultivated land, and livestock for 1996 and 2006. Some statistics on minor crops are obtained from the China Ministry of Agriculture, China Agricultural Statistics Summary (Zhongguo Nongye Tongji Ziliao). Food consumption, per capita food expenditure, and household income statistics are estimated by NBS from rural and urban household surveys. Food consumption data are annual average per capita amounts consumed by rural households and purchased by urban households.

The data are based on household surveys and administrative reporting. Users should be aware that methods and definitions have changed over time, creating major discontinuities in some data series. Occasionally, data are revised. In 2006, China revised gross domestic product (GDP) statistics upward. The 2008 update of the ERS database replaced historical livestock, GDP and employment figures with revised estimates published in current editions of Chinese statistical yearbooks. Livestock and meat statistics for 2000-06 were revised following results from a new agricultural census for the year 2006 that showed smaller livestock inventories and output than was previously estimated. Some crop statistics for 2006 were also revised after the census. A summary of the 2006 revisions is available in Comparison of China Agricultural Statistics.

Cultivated land area statistics were revised upward for 1996 after China's first agricultural census was conducted in 1997. Livestock inventories and production were revised downward after the 1996 census. Livestock and cultivated land area statistics for years prior to 1996 are included in the database although they may be inaccurate.

See Data Sources for information on which sources were used for various data series.

For more information on China statistics, see:

• China's Statistics: Are They Reliable? in China's Food and Agriculture: Issues for the 21st Century, April 2002
• Sources of Discontinuity and Uncertainty in Chinese Agriculture Data, paper presented at Federal Forecasters Conference, 2002

Data for 2010 are preliminary statistics published in the 2011 China Statistical Abstract.

Data for 2009 were obtained from 2010 editions of yearbooks as follows:

See Readings to access National Bureau of Statistics and Ministry of Agriculture data sources.

Data Items

For the national level, the database contains 250 data items:

• major crops: production and sown area
• livestock: inventory, slaughter, and output of meat
• agricultural inputs
• food and agricultural price indexes
• urban and rural per capita food consumption
• industrial output of selected products
• selected macroeconomic data

At the provincial level (45 data items):

• crops: production and sown area, 1979-2005
• livestock production, various years
• value of agricultural output, 1999-2005
• rural, city, and town population, 2000 (census)
• total population, 1982-2005

Units

Most items are reported in standard units such as kilograms, hectares, and Chinese yuan. All references to tons are metric tons (1,000 kg.) Users should be aware that many items are reported in 10,000s or 100 millions.

Updates

New data are added to this database, usually once a year, as statistical publications are obtained by ERS. The China Statistical Abstract, containing preliminary, partial data for the previous calendar year, is usually published annually in April or May. The China Statistical Yearbook and other publications are usually published annually in October or November. New or revised data are added to the database with a lag, subject to ERS resource availability and priorities. The latest data are available with a 1- to 2-year lag.

Last updated: Thursday, July 05, 2012

For more information contact: Fred Gale