China completes third economic census

BEIJING, Sept. 18 -- China has completed the third national economic census and data collected by three million statisticians nationwide will be published soon, according to a statement by the State Council on Thursday.

Presiding over a meeting of the leading group for the economic census, Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli said the survey came at a time of intense reform.

Zhang called the data from the census "precious wealth" for the nation, urging government departments and research institutions to analyze the data and come up with policy suggestions.

The census results should be used as key reference when the country draws its 13th five-year plan for (2015-2020), the vice premier said.

Statistical departments should facilitate reform and innovation to improve the statistical and census systems and make statistics more reliable, he said.

China's third economic census began in January this year and three million statisticians collected data related to enterprise ownership, financial status, production capacity and research and development.

Designed to complete a database covering all economic sectors, the census covered over 10 million companies and 60 million privately owned businesses.