The Statistical System Of Communist China

One of the most baffling problems in contemporary Chinese economic studies concerns the validity of official statistics. In the continuing discussion of claims and counter-claims, appeals to common sense are unconvincing. Because of the pressing need for substantial evidence on which to base a judgment, the present inquiry is an important contribution to the literature on Communist China. The book provides a quizzical but objective look at the statistical system of the country, and attempts to appraise the quality of official statistics by analyzing the development and inner working of the sytem. Its approach is broadly historical, beginning with the pre-Communist period (before 1949) and dividing the next dozen years into phases: the foundation of the state statistical system (1952 - 57), the period of decentralization (1958 - 59), and subsequent efforts at reorganization. Li's study of the development of a national statistical system in China is particularly instructive in delineating both the obstacles to such development that may be expected in a densely populated, largely agricultural country and the measure that have been adopted to overcome them. Therefore his hard-headed conclusions concerning the Chinese experience should be of lively intrest in those underdeveloped countries that are now planning or executing development programs. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1962.

Revision of author's thesis (doctoral)--Columbia University, 2014, titled Making it count: statistics and state-society relations in the early People's Republic of China, 1949-1959.

This thoroughly researched and clearly written compendium of available statistical information on China provides reliable information, careful explanations, useful guides to further research, and a full bibliography. An exhaustive compilation of national and provincial statistics on mainland China from 1949 to 1959, this book covers every facet of the Communist Chinese economy and presents the most comprehensive coverage available of statistical data on China from this period. Based on data obtained directly from Chinese sources, this book is the first attempt to provide Western readers with a reliable reference on the economy of mainland China. Nai-Ruenn Chen thoroughly and systematically examines each area of the economy and provides an authoritative guide to the terminology, classification, and method of collecting and listing data presented in the ample tables included in the book. Except in cases where missing information could be filled by simple arithmetic means or from descriptions by the Chinese themselves, no data was synthesized by inferential methods and no non-Chinese estimates were used. Rather Chen lists formulae for achieving indices for statistical measurement, defines geographical, economic, and administrative units of measurement, and explains the development of statistical procedures that have evolved in China. This volume is divided into eleven sections: area and population; national income; capital formation and related estimates; industry; agriculture; transportation and communication; trade; prices; living standards; public finance, credit, and foreign exchange rates; and employment, labor productivity, and wages. Each section consists of two parts: one containing the explanatory text, and the other, statistical tables grouped largely according to Chinese classifications. Chinese Economic Statistics in the Maoist Era: 1949-1965 is indispensable to anyone studying China, a valuable source for students of economic development or comparative economics, and an essential addition to libraries serving these specialists. Nai-Ruenn Chen was lecturer in economics at the University of California, Berkeley, and Research Economist for the Committee on the Economy of China of the Social Science Research Council. In addition to this book, he is the author of The Chinese Economy under Communism.

How China Became Capitalist details the extraordinary, and often unanticipated, journey that China has taken over the past thirty five years in transforming itself from a closed agrarian socialist economy to an indomitable economic force in the international arena. The authors revitalise the debate around the rise of the Chinese economy through the use of primary sources, persuasively arguing that the reforms implemented by the Chinese leaders did not represent a concerted attempt to create a capitalist economy, and that it was 'marginal revolutions' that introduced the market and entrepreneurship back to China. Lessons from the West were guided by the traditional Chinese principle of 'seeking truth from facts'. By turning to capitalism, China re-embraced her own cultural roots. How China Became Capitalist challenges received wisdom about the future of the Chinese economy, warning that while China has enormous potential for further growth, the future is clouded by the government's monopoly of ideas and power. Coase and Wang argue that the development of a market for ideas which has a long and revered tradition in China would be integral in bringing about the Chinese dream of social harmony.

The Chinese Communist government places a high priority on the development of industry in its national economic plans. Anxious to show advancement, it has published gross values of industrial production for the years prior to 1961 and corresponding indexes. Many of these data are biased and unreliable. In The Rate and Pattern of Industrial Growth in Communist China, Kang Chao carefully reconstructs two sets of industrial production indexes that are more meaningful and reliable. He also lays out the statistical procedures necessary to construct new indexes that reflect fundamental economic facts in contrast to official statistics. His approach represents an excellent model for others to follow in index-making for countries with limited output statistics and production cost data. The appendix contains valuable tables on China's industrial output, commodity by commodity, as well as on industry employment, wages, and prices. These tables were compiled from diverse and scattered sources and represent the most comprehensive compilation for that sector ever to appear except for the classified statistical documents of the Chinese Communist government.

Economic development in mainland China during the first two decades of Communist control provides a typical example for the difficult task to transform a vast underdeveloped agrarian economy into a modern industrial one. In the first half of this period, a series of massive transformations of social and economic institutions was accompanied by a drafted industrialization program; the result was an impressive speed-up in economic growth. The second decade witnessed an economic crisis (1960-62) and a political upheaval (1966-68). These disruptions marred the economic performance over the period as a whole. Consequently, the long-term growth rate appears to have been only moderate.The Economy of Communist China reviews selected aspects of the economy. After examining the development strategy, it analyzes the quantitative trends and the structural changes. The book goes on to analyze the key factors contributing to the earlier growth and the elements responsible for the later disruption and finally assesses the impact of the Cultural Revolution on the Chinese economy and the prospects of the current Third Five-Year Plan.The text includes a bibliography of selected materials on Chinese economic development.

This book examines China's economic success against the backdrop of a communist system and the pivotal role of reformed and marketized communist institutions. In this context, the book explains the key role of the "bureaucratic entrepreneurs" (government officials doing business) as a means of economic growth and the problems associated with that growth.