Beijing, April 25:

China’s economic data do not always add up and officials measuring the world’s fourth-largest economy must do a better job, state media said today.

The problem extends to vital statistics such as gross domestic product (GDP), unemployment and real estate prices.

Survey teams and statistics bureaus at all levels must address the quality of their work and improve the accuracy of primary data. There has long been doubts about the accuracy of China’s statistics which are suspected of being bloated by local governments hoping to make themselves look good with Beijing.

In August, a report from the top economic planner showed the economies in three quarters of China’s provinces expanded at 12 per cent or more in the first half of 2006, above the official national figure. Largely to blame for the misreporting is a system that has made the pursuit of economic expansion and development the top criteria for provincial cadres’ political advancement.

According to the government, economy grew by 10.7 per cent in 2006, picking up to an even more blistering pace of 11.1 per cent in the first quarter this year.

Meanwhile, up to 30 large Chinese firms are expected to buy foreign products worth as much as $10 billion at a sourcing fair as the nation seeks to curb its yawning trade surplus. The International Sourcing Fair, slated for September 25 to 27 in Shanghai, is another step taken by China to secure a more balanced trade environment, the China Daily reported, citing vice-commerce minister Gao Hucheng.

China’s trade surplus roughly doubled in the first three months of the year to $46.4 billion, despite successive moves to reduce export tax incentives while making imports easier and more attractive. “Our efforts to facilitate imports will work and China will make substantial progress in achieving more balanced trade,” Gao said.

China has been keen to prove its commitment to ease trade tensions with its trading partne-rs like US but officials stressed it takes time for government measures to have an effect.

US wins case

BEIJING: Six major US movie studios have won a lawsuit against a Beijing company for selling counterfeit DVDs of their films. A Beijing court ordered Beijing Cherry Blossom Star Culture Co and an affiliated DVD shop to stop the sales and pay $25,000 to the studios. The US move houses — Warner Bros, Columbia Pictures, Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox and Walt Disney — had asked for $318,000 in damages. — AFP

Heavier fines

BEIJING: China plans new heavier fines for illegal developments as it seeks to better control a property sector beset by land disputes and unbridled investment. Developments that have no planning permits or deviate from approved plans will be stopped and the builders fined between five to 10 per cent of the budget. If developers ref-use to halt construction, local governments will have power to close down the building site and demolish it. — AFP