The United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) said it is ready to assist China's economic census by sharing international experience and best practices in the conduct of large-scale census, according to a letter the National Bureau of Statistics of China received from the UNSD Wednesday.

China have conducted its first Economic Census from 2004.

The UNSD noted that the conduct of an economic census in a country with a population of 1.3 billion is "of great significanceboth to China and to the world."

The high growth of the Chinese economy over the past two decades has attracted worldwide attention, it said. "China has emerged as an important economic and trade partner in Asia and theworld."

The UNSD said information collected through the economic censuson the size, structure and efficiency of the economy will not onlymeet the needs of the Chinese government and business in preparingdevelopment strategies and investment decisions, but will also help countries in Asia and in the world to understand the Chinese economy better.

A number of challenges await China in the organization and conduct of the census. it acknowledged. "The huge number of enterprises, the complex organizational arrangements and the uneven development across regions are issues that you will have todeal with the ensure full coverage and high quality responses."

However, the UNSD said it believed that China will find innovative solutions to the problems ahead and complete the task of this historical census undertaking with the highest distinction.