I. Main contents of this chapter
Data on the price indices in t his chapter show the changing trend and the change rat es in prices of production, consumption
and investment, including mainly consumer price indices of resident s, retail price indices, price indices of agricultural means
of production, purchasing price indices of farm products, producers' price indices of industrial p roducts, purchasing price
indices of raw materials, fuels and power, price indices of investment in fixed assets, and real estate price indices.

II. Source of data
Statistical surveys for price indices are organized by the Urban Socio-economic Survey Organization, NBS. The urban socio-
economic survey organizat ions of the p rovinces, aut onomous regions and municipalities and of the selected cit ies and
counties collect data from the grassroots units in accordance with the scheme of price survey stipulated by the NBS, tabulate
them and report them to the agencies at higer levels.

III. Consumer price indices of residents and ret ail price indices

Data for calculation of the consumer price indices of residents and the retail price indices in China are collected with the
stratified s ampling method. Areas distributed in different economic regions are selected as the sample areas and the rep
resentative commodities are selected as the sample commodities. Regular surveys are conducted to collect the data on the
market prices. The data on the pop ulation are estimat ed on t he bas is of t he sample. At present, 226 cities and counties
have been selected for this p urpose. Following are major st eps in the process of calculation of the price indices:

(1) The selection of t he areas and places for survey: Based on such principles as regional economic features and reasonable
geographic distribut ion, rep resentat ive samp le areas for the national survey are s elected which include large, medium and
small cit ies and count ies. When the samp le areas are selected, largescale shops and markets (including fairs) wit h great
varieties of commodities are s elected as t he survey p laces.

(2) The selection of the rep resentat ive commodit ies and their specifications or varieties : The repres entative commodities
are the commodit ies consumed in large quantity and representative in price changes. The representative specifications or
varieties are determined according to the data on t he ret ail sales of commodities and the expenditure data of the residents
of 40,000 urban households and 67,000 rural households, following t he related instructions for selection. In principle, only
those specifications or varieties of the commodities can be selected: (a) They are closely related to the social p roduct ion
and people's livelihood; (b) They are sold in large quantities (or big values); (c) The market supply is stable; (d) The
changes of their prices are representative in trend; (e) There is great difference among the specifications or varieties
selected.

At present, data are collected on about 600-700 specifications each month under 251 basic headings in 8 categories in the
consumer price surveys. For the ret ail price survey s, data are collect ed on more t han 500 specifications each month under
225 basic headings in 16 categories

(3) Data collect ion: Enumerat ors are sent t o t he survey places t o t ake the records of t he prices . Nearly 10 thousand
assis tant enumerators are invited t o assist t he survey work.

(4) The determinat ion of the weights: The weights for calculation of the retail price indices are determined according to the
total retail sales of commodities. The weight s for calculation of the consumer price indices are determined according to the
composition of the consumption exp enditures of more than 100,000 urban and rural hous eholds.

IV. Producers' p rices of industrial products Producers' prices of indust rial products refer to t he first sale price of industrial
products. The survey way s include the
key units survey and typical units survey. The key units refer to
the industrial enterprises with annual sale revenue above 5 million
yuans . The t ypical units refer to the indust rial enterprises
with annual sale revenue below 5 million yuans.

(1) Principle in s electing the represent ative enterp rises:
(a) Enterprises to be covered in t he survey are select ed by indus trial sectors. In principle, every branch should have
enterprises selected; (b) All (or a majority of) large-sized enterprises should be s elected; (c) Enterprises with normal and
stable production are to be selected; (d) Different t ypes of ownership should be considered in selecting enterp rises.

(2) The principle to select the representative products:
(a) The products are selected by industrial sectors; (b) The select ed products should have great impact on t he national
economy and the people's livelihood; (c) The production of the products s elected are stable; (d) The foreground of p roduct
s is rep resentat ive in trend; (e) The products are typical and with local color. The p resent List of Industrial Products for t he
survey includes 1410 products (including 3019 specifications or varieties). The industrial sales value of the industries rep
resented by these products accounts for more than 90 percent of total industrial sales value.

(3) Dat a collection: Reports by ent erprises are adopt ed. About 41,000 indus trial enterpris es rep ort p rice dat a every
month.

(4) The determinat ion of the weights: The weights for calculation of the producers' price indices of industrial p roducts are
determined according to the t otal sales value of industrial p roducts. Data from the industrial census are used for the
calculation. If industrial census data are not available for the reference year, indust rial statis tical data and statistical data
from other agencies will be used to es timat e the weights. The weights are replaced every five years.

V. Price indices for investment in fixed assets Dat a on p rices of investment in fixed asset s are collected by t he survey on
key units and typical unit s. The p rices of the survey of inves tment in fixed asset s are the actual purchas ing prices or
balancing prices of entity of investment in fixed assets. The survey content includes the prices of main construction mat erials
that comp osing the architecture engineering entity in the year, such as steel, timber, cement, local construct ion materials
(such as brick, tile, calcareousness , sand, stone, etc.), chemical materials (such as oil paint, etc.), the price of labor force as
input (wages), prices for renting of building machinery and equipment, the purchasing price of equipment, tools and
instruments and the prices of others investments. The following principle t o select the sample of price survey of investment
in fixed assets should be followed.

(1) The princip le to select the prices survey point of construction and ins tallation: (a) Sample units should be a cert ain
coverage; (b) The economic activity of investment is great representat ive; (c) Different economic ty pes of ownership should
be considered; (d) The key projects need to be selected; (e) Give attent ion to both various branches and types of project.

(2) The principle to select the prices survey point of others investments : The p rinciple to select t he prices survey point of
others fees is general the same as that of construction and installation, especially to select the projects with great investment
value. Since it is not easy to obtain the other fees, it should do the key survey on the construction owner unit s and building
units assisted with typical survey (gotten from the administrat ion department), in the actual operation.

(3) Price survey way: Enterprises report ing sys tem is used t ogether with the enumerators visiting method.

(4) The determination of t he weight s: The weight s for calculation of the price indices of investment in fixed asset s are
determined according to the average proportion of construction and installation, purchase of equipment, tools and
instrumentsand ot hers investment in the 3 previous years.

VI. Price indices for real estate
The real est ate in broad sense refers to the property in terms of buildings and land. Therefore, the price survey on real
estate covers the following items:

1) Prices for s elling houses and buildings. In terms of the ty pes of houses sold at the market , p rices for selling hous es
include the prices for commercial houses , for houses built or purchased by various units and for privately owned houses.

2) Prices for renting houses and buildings. Included in this category are prices for renting residential housing, office buildings,

commercial buildings and warehouses.

3) Prices for land transaction. Included in this category are prices for t he transaction of land used for residential housing, for
industrial purposes, for commercial or recreational p urposes and for other uses.

Survey on real est ate prices employed a combinat ion of survey of key units and survey of ty pical cas es. Data are collected
through rep orting forms supplemented by interviews.

The survey on real estate prices at present is conducted in 35 large and medium cities, with a sample of 6,000 units.