Explanatory Notes on Major Statistical Indicators
【Administrative Division】refers to the division of administrative areas by the state. The
Constitution of the People’s Republic of China stipulates that the administrative areas in
China are divided as: 1) The whole country is divided into provinces, autonomous
regions and municipalities directly under the central government; 2) Provinces
and autonomous regions are divided into autonomous prefectures, counties,
autonomous counties and cities; 3) Autonomous prefectures are divided into
counties, autonomous counties and cities; 4) Counties and autonomous counties
are divided into townships, nationality townships and towns; 5) Municipalities
and large cities are divided into districts and counties, 6) The state shall,
when necessary, establish special administrative regions.
【Temperature】refers to the air temperature.
Monthly average temperature is the summation
of average daily temperature of one month divided by the actual days of that
particular month.
Annual average temperature is the summation
of monthly average of a year divided by 12 months.
【Relative Humidity】refers to the ratio of actual water vapor pressure to the saturation
water vapor density under the current temperature. The statistical method is
the same as that of temperature.
【Volume of Precipitation】refers to the deepness of liquid state or solid state (thawed) water
falling from the sky to the ground that has not been evaporated, infiltrated or
run off. The calculation method is as follows:
Monthly precipitation is the summation of
daily precipitation of a month.
Annual precipitation is the summation of 12
months precipitation of a year.
【Sunshine Hours】refer to the actual hours of sun irradiating the earth. The
calculation method is the same as that of the precipitation.
【Comparable Prices】refer to prices that are used to remove the factors of price change
in calculating economic aggregates, so as to facilitate comparison of
aggregates over time. Two methods are used for calculating economic aggregates
at comparable prices: 1. Multiplying the output of
products by their constant prices of certain year; 2. Deflation of data at
current prices by relevant price index.
【Constant Price】refers to the average price of a given product in certain year,
which is used for comparison of output value over time. As the output value at
constant prices removes the factor of price changes, it reflects the trend of
production development over time. Since 1949, with the changes in general price
level, National Bureau of Statistics has issued nationally unified constant
prices five times: the 1952 constant prices for 1949-1957; the 1957 constant
prices for 1957-1971; the 1970 constant prices for 1971-1981; the 1980 constant
prices for 1981-1990; and the 1990 constant prices have been used since 1991.
【Average Annual Growth Rate】Two methods for calculating average annual growth rate are applied
in China, one is often called “level approach”, or the method of calculating geometric average, which is derived
by comparing the level of the last year of the interval with that of the
beginning year; the other is called "accumulative
approach" or algebraic average or equation method, which is derived by the
summation of the actual figure of each year in the interval divided by the
figure in the base year.
Usually the results calculated by the two
methods are fairly close, but they differed sharply when uneven economic development
occurred with striking fluctuations in growth.
The average annual growth rates listed in
this statistical yearbook are calculated by “level approach” except for the
growth rate of investment in fixed assets. The base years are not listed when
the years are listed for average annual growth rates.