Authored by Gao Minxue, a key project under the post-funding support of the National Social Science Fund, published by Economic Science Press, 2025.

Achievement Overview

Government statistics constitute a vast data information system. The data it provides pertain to national economy and people's livelihood as well as macro and micro-level decision-making, and thus are regarded as the infrastructure of national governance. In China, national governance is centered on the centralized leadership of the Party and government, which determines the critical importance of government statistics construction.

The overall objective of Introduction to Government Statistics is to treat government statistics as an information system. From a management perspective, the book aligns with international standards and applies them to Chinese practices. It comprehensively elaborates on its content composition, organizational mechanisms, methodologies and processes for data production and service delivery, as well as capacity-building efforts. This aims to help diverse data users gain a thorough understanding of government statistics while providing foundational arguments for institutional development in government statistics.

The book consists of ten chapters, systematically discussing: Introduction, Content System, Organizational System, Survey Targets and Classification System, Basic Information and Data Sources, Survey System, Project Process Management, Data Processing and Dissemination Services, Overview of Data Products, and Legal Framework, Capacity Building, and Quality Assessment.

Project Evaluation (Excerpts from Anonymous Experts)

"This achievement systematically explains key aspects of government statistics, including its content composition, organizational mechanisms, methodologies, and processes for data production and service delivery. It provides significant theoretical references for institutional development in government statistics and holds substantial application value in serving government statistics management research, advanced statistics talent cultivation, and diverse data users."

"Government statistics are an essential component of the statistical system, yet often overlooked by academia. This achievement demonstrates systematic research on the composition of government statistics and presents cutting-edge insights into international standards for official statistics. The integration of both reflects innovativeness and represents a rare academic contribution to the field of government statistics."

"This achievement is ambitious in scope, well-documented, rigorously argued, and structurally comprehensive. It can be considered a culmination of research in the field of government statistics, filling a gap in this area of study."

Author Introduction

Gao Minxue is a Researcher at the Center for Applied Statistical Science, Renmin University of China, and a Professor at the School of Statistics. She serves as Deputy Director of the China Association for National Accounts Research (since 2019). She has long been engaged in teaching and research in socio-economic statistics, with expertise in national accounts, environmental economic accounting, and government statistics. She maintains long-term collaboration with multiple governmental departments, including the National Bureau of Statistics, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the Ministry of Commerce, and the Ministry of Transport. She has served as a member of the first National Statistical Expert Advisory Committee and the third National Expert Committee on Climate Change, as well as an expert in the inter-ministerial circular economy coordination meetings. Her representative works include Introduction to Government Statistics, Research Report on the Construction and Application of Government Statistics in China, New Perspectives on Macroeconomic Accounting: Economic Statistics in Concert with China's Development, Principles and Chinese Practices of National Accounts, along with numerous research papers and column articles