Statistical accuracy, reliability key to economic policy

Every five days, Guo Shufang, a 48-year-old retiree, would spend three hours visiting the Binjiang Department Store in Tianjin's hustling business district.

Rather than hunting for bargains, Guo, a part-time statistician in Tianjin, would ask the salespeople downtown for the prices of more than 60 kinds of cloth. She would then spend the next day typing into her computer all the rates, which would then be sent to the National Bureau of Statistics, which will then compile data for the latest economic indicators such as the consumer price index.

Guo is one of the 3,000 statisticians scattered across more than 550 cities and towns in the nation. Whether this legion of statisticians could come up with the figures that accurately reflect the economic trend is increasingly important for the nation's top decision-makers for working out macro economic policies and analysts.