BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s top legislature has approved an amended statistics law, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Friday, the latest step in a fight against persistent data fraud amid skepticism over the reliability of data in the world’s second-largest economy.
Xinhua said the standing committee of the National People’s Congress approved the law. It gave no further details.
Earlier this week, state media quoted a spokesman for the top legislative body as saying that the amended law will help strengthen the prevention of statistical fraud and increase penalties for officials who falsify economic data.
“Despite repeated sanctions, statistical fraud and deception have continued in recent years, seriously damaging the authenticity and accuracy of statistical data,” the spokesperson said.
“The public has thought a lot about this and it has become one of the biggest problems that urgently need to be solved in statistics.”
Analysts outside China have long been skeptical about the reliability of Chinese data, especially as the government seeks to assuage market concerns about a prolonged economic slowdown.
The government has repeatedly promised to investigate and punish officials who falsify economic data or interfere with statistical work to improve data quality.
(Reporting by Kevin Yao; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Christopher Cushing)