The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) of China has set up a special department responsible for investigating false statistics.

"The new department will establish a mechanism for the handling of cases involving officials meddling with and falsifying statistical figures," an NBS spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said some officials have asked statisticians to fabricate figures in order to enhance their performance, while some statisticians are doing it to please their superiors.

According to media reports, China's annual economic growth rates issued by the NBS have always been lower than those calculated by the local governments of the 31 provincial areas of the Chinese mainland.

In the first half of this year, the NBS reported an economic growth rate of 10.9 percent for China.

But figures from provincial governments indicated a much higher growth rate. All the 31 provinces reported double-digit growth rates, with 23 of them reporting growth rates above 12 percent.

NBS officials said they have always had to readjust figures from local authorities according to their own data in order to make national figures more accurate.

The NBS spokesperson said Thursday that supervision from the public is welcome and would be helpful to improve the quality of statistics.

(Xinhua News Agency August 18, 2006)