Confusing statistics

The piles of official data the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has released before the annual session of the National People's Congress are supposed to help lawmakers get to grips with the country's social and economic reality.

But some of them have become so counterintuitive that the statistical officials can no longer simply dust the problem under the carpet by saying it's a matter of perceptive gap between professional statisticians and ordinary people.

If the country's top legislature is to base its decision-making on these digital numbers, lawmakers should first hold statistical officials accountable for the message they deliver. Because flawed understanding of real-world problems could lead to counter-productive policy responses that will bring about undesirable consequences for the country.