Former statistics Bureau Chief Wang Baoan is indicted for corruption and bribery. (Photo : Twitter)
The former head of China's National Bureau of Statistics, Wang Baoan, was indicted for accepting bribes. The former governor of Sichuan Province was charged with corruption as well.
According to the Supreme Court, Wang is charged for "illegally accepting a huge amount of money and property."
The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection included him in the list of targeted officials who committed acts of corruption.
Ning Jizhe, an adviser to Premier Li Keqiang, succeeded Wang and is still the vice-chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission. The commission functions as an accountant of the economic health of the country and monitors the growth of new industries.
Experts praised the move of the government for more accurate economic data.
Ding Shuang, economic head of research at Standard Chartered Hong Kong, said that better economic data means improved predictions and outlook.
He said, "It will allow officials to more accurately assess economic performance with data from both outdated industries and new industries."
"If the data look at traditional industries such as steel and coal more than new businesses, it would be likely to underestimate overall economic activity. Better assessments reflect a fuller picture," he added.
Former Sichuan governor Li Chengyun was also indicted for accepting bribes while he was the Community Party Chief of Dayang City. The former Party official fabricated economic data from 2011 to 2014.
State media commented on the incident and said that the government has "zero tolerance for any fabrication of economic data."
It added, "The issue of inflated data originates from the obsession some local officials have for impressive figures, which could bring political benefits under previous official evaluation measures."
The release of fake data was aimed to make officials look better in their performance in office. President Xi Jinping and Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli called for punishment of officials who fabricate data.
State media also reported that Liaoning is one of the slowest growing provinces in China; it only reported a 2.4 percent growth in gross domestic product in the first quarter of 2017.
