CRI听力:New GDP Stats to Include Debt-to-revenue Ratio

China's top statistical authority has announced a broader accounting plan to measure the country's economic performance.

The National Bureau of Statistics orders statisticians nationwide to collect and publish more than 40 economic indicators regularly to better reflect the economy's fitness.

Among the indicators, debt-to-fiscal revenue ratio, resident consumption, and R&D spending-to-GDP ratio will be viewed on par with GDP growth figures.

The newly-added indexes will be linked to local government officials' performance assessments and office promotions.

The revision of the NBS statistical plan came after Chinese leaders sought to shift the government's obsession with GDP growth.

Currently, the country's statisticians release a raft of data on GDP growth, investment and consumption.

These figures often don't reflect how much investment is dependent on government debt or how much growth is achieved at the cost of the environment.

For more on the new stats plan, the Beijinghour's Shane Bigham earlier spoke with Mike Bastin, Visiting Professor at China's University of International Business and Economics.

Questions:

1. There has been a lot talk on "quality growth" in China in recent years among central leadership and academics alike. How far do these new measures go in terms of recording the country's "quality growth?"

2. GDP growth figures have kept China in the headlines for the past several decades. How will this new accounting plan change the way the world reads China?

3. China's economy has seen a gradual downward trend in the past year or so. How will the new stats plan help the government to better understand and manage the economy?