China’s Input-Output Survey and Its Tabulation Method
Department of National Accounts, NBS
QI Shchang
After the National Bureau of Statistics of China compiled the 1987 Input-Output
Tables, every 5 years, i.e., in the year ending with 2 or 7, NBS conducts the national
input-output survey and compiles the benchmark input-output tables of the
corresponding year. Besides that, in the year ending with 0 and 5, NBS also compiles
the annual tables. So far NBS has compiled the 1987, 1992, 1997 and 2002
benchmark input-output tables, together with the 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2005 annual
tables. At present, NBS has accomplished the 2007 input-output survey and is
compiling the 2007 benchmark input-output tables.
I.
China’s Input-Output Survey
In the year ending with 2 or 7, NBS with departments concerned organizes the
national input-output survey. The year of 2007 is the 5th input-output survey year.
1. Survey Purpose
Within the current national statistics survey system, there lacks the detailed input
information that reflects the production and operating activities of the various
departments of the national economy. The purpose of carrying out the input-output
survey once every 5 years is to obtain information of the intermediate input and value
added structures and of the investment composition of fixed assets of various
input-output commodity sectors, which is needed for compiling input-output tables.
2. Questionnaires and Survey Contents
In order to obtain information of the intermediate input and value added structures
and of the investment composition of fixed assets of various input-output commodity
sectors which is needed for compiling input-output tables, in each year of input-output
survey, NBS revises The National Input-Output Survey Plan in terms of the current
financial system, accounting system, statistical system, enterprise management
conditions, and so on. The 2007 National Input-Output Survey Plan includes 52
input-output questionnaires for the basic units, involving various industries of national
economy such as industry, construction and the investment activities of fixed assets,
only agriculture being excluded. Questionnaires for the basic units are classified into
3 categories: the census questionnaires, the focused questionnaires and the typical
questionnaires.
The census questionnaires include questionnaires of Investment Composition of Fixed
Assets and of Composition of Manufacturing Costs of the Large-Sized Industrial
Enterprises above Designated Size. For survey of investment composition of fixed
assets, it covers all the projects with totally planned investment of 30 million yuan
and above according to the annual report of investment of fixed assets. For survey of
Composition of Manufacturing Costs of the Large-Sized Industrial Enterprises above
Designated Size, it covers all the large-sized industrial enterprises above designated
size (with annual revenue from principal business of 5 million yuan and above), and
its survey contents refer to the composition of manufacturing costs of the large-sized
industrial enterprises by input-output commodity sectors.
The focused questionnaires include questionnaires for the basic units of medium-sized
and small-sized industrial enterprises above designated size, of construction
enterprises, of railway transportation service enterprises, of road transport service
enterprises, of water traffic service enterprises, of air service enterprises, of postal
service enterprises, of telecommunication and other information transmission service
enterprises, of computer and software service enterprises, of wholesale and retail
service enterprises，of accommodation service enterprises, of food and beverage
service enterprises, of financial service enterprises, of insurance service enterprises, of
business service enterprises, of tourism service enterprises, of entertainment service
enterprises, of other service sectors, and of administrative units and institutions. The
field of investigation refers to the key-point sampled units of various industries
mentioned above. In 2007 input-output survey, the number of the key sampled units is
about 24 thousand, except the railway transportation and postal service enterprises.
The survey contents refer to the cost composition of production and operating
activities of the enterprises and institutions. For medium-sized and small-sized
industrial enterprises above designated size, the survey content covers the
composition of manufacturing costs. For medium-sized industrial enterprises above
designated size, the composition of manufacturing costs is required to be reported by
input-output commodity sectors.
The typical questionnaires include questionnaires of compositions of transportation
expenditures, of errand and travelling expenses, of office supply costs, of amortization
of low priced and easily worn articles, of packing charges, of research and
development outlays. The field of investigation refers to the selected typical sampled
units. The survey contents cover the compositions of the expenses stated above.
3. Survey Methods
In 2007 national input-output survey, previous survey methods have been adopted,
that is, methods of integration of departments and regions at different levels have been
adopted. For production and operating activities controlled by the state and its
production across regions, such as railway transportation and postal service activities,
Ministry of Railway and State Post Bureau of PRC are responsible for organizing
their input-output surveys. The statistical departments are responsible for the other
parts of the input-output survey.
II.
Information beyond Input-Output Survey
In order to compile input-output tables, the professional or statistical information from
administrative departments and statistical departments concerned is needed, as well as
the input-output investigation information. For example, information of final accounts
from Ministry of Finance, statistical information of import and export amount of
money by commodity from General Administration of Customs of PRC, BOP from
State Administration of Foreign Exchange, gross industrial output value by industry,
costs and expenses of industrial enterprises, consumption expenditures of urban and
rural households from NBS, etc. are needed for compilation of IOT.
1. Investigation Information of Gross Industrial Output Value by Industry
Gross Industrial Output Value and Sales Volume and Output of Major Industrial
Products (Table B201) is one of the questionnaires for basic units of our current
national statistical survey system. Its field of statistics refers to all the industrial
incorporated enterprises above the designated size. Its survey contents include
indicators such as gross industrial output value, Output of Major Industrial Products,
etc. For the large-sized and medium-sized enterprises above the designated size, the
gross industrial output value is classified into small category by industrial industry.
That is, the enterprises determine the small industrial category that their gross
industrial output value is attached according to the nature of each of their industrial
products. In other words, the gross industrial output value is calculated by commodity
sector. Based on Gross Industrial Output Value and Sales Volume and Output of
Major Industrial Products, we can get Aggregation Table of Gross Output Value of the
Large-Sized and Medium-Sized Industrial Enterprises by Industry and Commodity,
which is fundamental information for compiling industrial output table.
2. Investigation Information of Costs and Expenses of Industrial Enterprises
In 2007, NBS set up survey system of costs and expenses of industrial enterprises
above designated size, which is an important reform in the field of method and system
of industrial statistics. It is of significance to improve the data quality of value added
of industry and of its speed of development. In the meantime, it also provides more
comprehensive and more detailed and accurate basic data for compilation of IOT.
Costs and expenses belong to the category of accounting. They are reflected in plenty
of detailed accounts, and referred to as the corresponding consumption in order to
obtain business revenue directly or indirectly. The objects of investigation on
industrial costs and expenses refer to all the large-sized and medium-sized industrial
incorporated enterprises above the designated size and part of the small-sized
industrial incorporated enterprises above the designated size. The survey contents
cover the detailed items and their composition of manufacturing costs, operating
expenses, management expenses, financial expenses, etc. of the industrial enterprises,
and the correlated indicators, totally 116 indicators.
III.
Compilation Method of China’s IOT
Restricted by the conditions of basic statistical information, we directly compile our
IOT commodity by commodity. That is different from the method advocated by 1993
SNA. In 1993 SNA, supply table and use table are compiled earlier, IOT by
commodity sector are then derived from them. Therefore, for China’s industrial
enterprises, the large-sized and medium-sized industrial enterprises above the
designated size are required to report their manufacturing costs composition according
to the principle of “manufacturing costs of commodities put under the corresponding
output values”. That is, the manufacturing costs composition of commodity sector
corresponds to its gross output value. This kind of method is called direct
decomposition method in input-output survey. The compilation procedures of China’s
IOT are as follows:
1. Calculation of Gross Output (Gross Input) by Commodity Sector
Since the calculation methods of gross output are different for various commodity
sectors, we calculate the gross output of industrial sectors and non-industrial sectors
respectively. For industrial commodity sectors, the gross output is calculated on the
basis of Aggregation Table of Gross Output Value of the Large-Sized and
Medium-Sized Industrial Enterprises by Industry and Commodity. For gross output of
the other commodity sectors, some are calculated in commodity method (that is,
quantity of commodity times its unit-price), some are calculated in accordance with
revenue from principal business, some are calculated according to the current
professional expenditures. The data sources include investigation information from
statistical system, administrative information and information of final department
accounts.
2. Calculation of Value Added and Its Composition by Commodity Sector
For value added and its composition by commodity sector, some can be taken from
current GDP data directly, some need to be calculated based on the related materials
(such as annual report of statistical materials, financial final accounts and accounting
final accounts, etc.) and to be coordinated with the current GDP data. The
composition of value added is derived from value added structure taken from
input-output survey and from the aggregate indicators.
3. Calculation of Composition of Intermediate Input by Commodity Sector in
Purchaser’s Price
Information from input-output survey and from industrial investigation of costs and
expenses is the major foundation for working out the composition of intermediate
input by commodity sector. First, we calculate the structure of intermediate input by
commodity sector, utilizing information from input-output survey and from industrial
investigation of costs and expenses. Then considering the aggregate of intermediate
input by commodity sector, we calculate the composition of intermediate input by
commodity sector.
4. Calculation of Final Use and Its Composition
Aggregate data of final use by component are taken from GDP data by expenditure
approach. Part of components need to be adjusted. For example, we need to add the
value of transport service to export data that is provided for the imported commodities
by China’s transportation enterprises, and we need to add the import custom duties
and import commodity consumption tax to import data. For calculating composition
of final use components, we mainly make use of information from rural and urban
household investigation, from financial final accounts, from investigation on
investment composition of fixed assets, from customs statistics, from BOP statistics,
and so on.
5. Calculating gross output by commodity sector in purchaser’s price in line with
information from typical investigation on margins
The purpose is to get the row control total for conducting balances of IOT in
purchaser’s price. The concrete method is that we get the gross output in purchaser’s
price based on the gross output by commodity sector and the ratios of margins
provided by investigation information of margins.
6. Going on Balancing on the Basis of IOT in Purchaser’s Price
After reaching essential balances, we conduct mathematical balances by means of
modified RAS when the key coefficients are fixed.
7. Compiling Matrix of Margins
8. Compiling IOT in Producer’s Price
Matters of Interest and What We Hope Experts from OECD Will Introduce to Us:
1. According to 1993 SNA, supply table and use table of statistical function should be
used as foundation, while the IOT (including symmetrical tables by commodity sector
and by industry) is tabulated on the basis of them. And when Central Product
Classification is used to classify the goods and services, the more detailed the
classification is, the clearer the concept is. For produced goods and services or goods
and services consumed in production process, if we adopt the suggestions by SNA,
which level of the 5 levels of CPC should be used in commodity balancing for
compiling accounts of goods and services and for balancing of further supply and use?
Could we say the 4th or the 5th level of CPC must be adopted?
As we learn, the supply and use table in US are compiled mainly dependent on
information from economic census. In US, information from economic census is very
rich, with detailed output data of goods and services, and the complete output data by
detailed commodity can be gathered. However, for countries where there is not
economic census yet, or just part of establishments has been investigated, how are the
complete output data by commodity compiled, or how are the complete output data by
commodity imputed?
In addition, must the objects of investigation be establishments? Could the enterprises
be objects of investigation, while the industry to which the enterprise is attached is
determined by nature of the enterprise’s central product? In other words, for better
adopting the suggestions by SNA, what are the most essential requirements?
2. As understood, there are basic statistical data with objects of investigation being
establishments in the developed countries and in most of the Asian developing
countries. In China, we implement survey on establishments in the economic census
year, but there are only information of basic conditions and revenue. Then when we
investigate by establishment, is it necessary to obtain the complete information of the
incorporated unit? For instance, for an enterprise with production shops (which is
assumed to produce only one kind of final product), auxiliary production shops
(machine repair shop, serving for production shops) and management departments,
this kind of enterprise is defined as incorporated enterprise of one-establishment in
China. In that case, for this kind of enterprises, are they investigated as one
establishment or as two establishments internationally? That is to say, is it necessary
to treat the activities of auxiliary shops and of operating management of the
enterprises as an establishment? If so, are contents of the two kinds of questionnaires
different? Or are the consumption contents determined by production processes of
establishments?
3. We’d like that you introduce us the main information used and compilation
procedures in compiling supply and use tables through case studies of a developed
country. How do you account the value added and its composition by industry when
you compile the use table? Do you use investigation data of establishments to
calculate the value added by production approach? Whether is the operating surplus
derived by aggregate of value added minus the sum of the three components of
compensation of employees, net taxes on production and depreciation of fixed assets?
Or other calculation methods are adopted?
4. When supply table and use table are compiled, which level of classification by
industry and by commodity is used at least?
5. How the basic price, the producer’s price and the purchaser’s price are reflected in
input-output accounts? Which kinds of taxes are included in each of them?
6. How do you deal with value-added tax? Is the sales tax added to the output in basic
price, and the purchase tax added to the intermediate input? Or is the “value-added tax
that should be turned over to the state” added to the output in basic price, while
without consideration of the purchase tax in the component of intermediate input?