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BEIJING: Chinese companies in Shanghai have falsified answers in replies to some surveys by the national statistics agency, calling into question the reliability of the country's property market data.
The problems, from omitting information to reporting incorrect prices, were identified by the Shanghai arm of the National Bureau of Statistics. The NBS announced the findings on its website (www.stats.gov.cn) on Monday, but it did not say that any of its specific surveys or reports had incorrectly characterized the country's housing market conditions.
Data about China's housing prices is in large part derived from surveys conducted by the NBS. The Chinese public has long been critical of some of the figures, saying that they understate how expensive property has become.
A striking example of discrepancies within official data came to light last week.
The NBS said housing prices in 70 major cities, the index most closely watched by the market, were unchanged in July from June.
But the National Development and Reform Commission said property prices in 36 key cities actually rose 1.6 percent in July from June, according to information gathered by that agency's price monitoring bureau.
In the absence of a single set of reliable official figures, many private institutions and real estate agencies have started producing their own statistics, making the overall picture yet more confusing for industry observers.
The Shanghai NBS agency will work harder to inform companies of "the importance of statistics and the significance of improving accuracy", the statement said.
