The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Thursday that the data collecting work concerning China's first national economic census will be finished by the end of May this year.

The census, the largest such survey conducted since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, is designed to draw an economic panorama of the country's fast-expanding secondary and tertiary industries and complete a database covering all economic sectors.

Millions of census staff have completed the registration of 5 million corporate people, 4 million industrial enterprises and more than 30 million privately-owned enterprises since Jan. 1 this year, the bureau said.

The survey covers such economic sectors as construction, transportation, and scientific research. It collects information on staff size, financial conditions and productivity management.

The census, which involves nearly 10 million statisticians and volunteers and costs billions of yuan, will help the central government map out plans for economic and social development.

The final outcome of the census will be released in September of 2005, according to the NBS.

To ensure the smooth operation of the census and the quality of the data, 14 inspection and supervision teams were dispatched nationwide to check the work.

China plans to conduct an economic census every five years. It launched state-level trial census programs in three provinces of Jilin, Zhejiang and Sichuan and the national capital of Beijing in 2004.

(Xinhua News Agency May 13, 2005)