Gap seen increasing between local and national GDP figures

The 31 provinces and regions across the mainland reported GDP for 2012 that added up to a higher total than the figure calculated by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) last year, China Youth Daily reported Monday, noting that the gap is continuing to expand.

According to the report, the GDP of local provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions reached 57.69 trillion yuan ($9.25 trillion) in total last year, compared with a total figure of 51.93 trillion yuan calculated by the NBS. The gap is almost the same as the GDP of South China's Guangdong Province, which reported GDP of 5.7 trillion yuan for 2012.

Local GDP figures usually add up to a higher total than the figure calculated by the NBS, the report said, and the gap has shown an expanding trend in recent years.

In 2009, the total local GDP summation was 2.68 trillion yuan higher than the NBS figure, and the gap rose to 3.5 trillion yuan in 2010 and 4.6 trillion yuan in 2011.

In March 2012, the NBS accused local governments of reporting false GDP figures, and bureau chief Ma Jiantang vowed to punish those responsible.

Ma said the bureau plans to develop a unified accounting system.