Moody's Analytics Buffet Blog

TitleUnderstanding Data: China - Classifications

AuthorPhillip Thorne

Question

What are the classification taxonomies (geographic, industrial, enterprise registration, etc.) used in official statistics for the People's Republic of China?

Answer

Subnational geography

See: Geo Note: China - Subnational structure

Industrial classification

The industrial classification is variously called:

Industrial Classification for National Economic Activities (ICNEA)
Chinese Standard Industrial Classification (CSIC)
GB/T 4754 with a year suffix ("GB/T" is short for guóbiao tuijiàn or "national standard/recommended" [8])

GB/T 4754 was created in 1984 and revised in 1994, 2002, 2011 and 2017. Each time there is a redefinition, it tends to be used immediately with the annual yearbook data: for example, the 2011 vintage was first used with 2012 data.

The 2011 version was promulgated April 29, 2011 and contains 20 sections, 96 divisions, 432 groups and 1,094 classes. The 2002 and 2011 versions are generally comparable to UN ISIC Rev. 3 and Rev. 4, respectively. If not specifically marked, the easiest way to differentiate is whether "electricity, gas and water supply" is one section (as in Rev. 3) or two (Rev. 4). The 2011 and 2017 vintages are identical at the section (one-digit) level but differ at the division (two-digit) level.

Vintages

GB/T 4754-1984
GB/T 4754-1994
GB/T 4754-2002 is comparable to UN ISIC Rev. 3
GB/T 4754-2011 is comparable to UN ISIC Rev. 4
GB/T 4754-2017 is comparable to UN ISIC Rev. 4

Real estate

Written Chinese does not differentiate between "building" and "house." We have observed that the official English translations at NBS use the terms "commercialized building" and "commercialized house" interchangeably in different tables.

See: China Statistical Yearbook 2016 tables 19-6 and 19-10 to 19-12 [10].

Commercialized building

Residential building

Of which: Villa, high-grade apartment

Office building
House(?) for business use
Other

Household registration (huji or hukou) [9]

Confers access to certain socialized resources.

Rural
Urban

Registration status of enterprises [1]

Typically, enterprises are registered with industrial and commercial administration agencies. There exist government agencies, institutions and social organizations that are not so registered, which are classified mainly by their sources of funding and manner of management.

Domestic-funded enterprise

State-owned enterprise
Collective-owned enterprise
Cooperative enterprise
Joint ownership enterprise
Limited liability corporation
Share-holding corporation
Private enterprise
Other enterprise

Enterprise with investment from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan

Joint-venture enterprise
Cooperative enterprise
Sole investment enterprise
Share-holding corporation

Enterprise with foreign investment

Joint-venture enterprise
Cooperative enterprise
Sole investment enterprise
Share-holding corporation

For government agencies, institutions and social organizations:

Government agency
Institution

Budget is from government budget appropriations or extra-budget funds (state-owned)
Budget mainly from collective units (collective-owned)
Established by individual or group of citizens (private)
Other (classified by manner of management)