The State Council recently issued the Notice on Carrying out the Fifth National Economic Census (hereinafter referred to as the Notice). In accordance with the provisions of the Regulations on National Economic Census, the State Council decided to conduct the fifth national economic census in 2023. Insist on seeking truth from facts, reform and innovation, ensure the authenticity and accuracy of census data, and comprehensively and objectively reflect China's economic and social development. The Notice pointed out that the fifth national economic census will, for the first time, conduct an integrated input-output survey, which will be conducted on all legal entities, industrial activity entities and self-employed households engaged in the secondary and tertiary industries in China. The main contents of the census include the basic information, organizational structure, personnel salaries, production capacity, financial status, production and operation, energy production and consumption, research and development activities, information construction and e-commerce transactions of the census objects, as well as the investment structure, product use and destination and fixed asset investment composition. The standard time point of the census is December 31, 2023, and the data during the census period is the annual data in 2023. The Notice pointed out that all regions and departments should, in accordance with the principle of "unified leadership at the national level, division of labor and cooperation between departments, responsibility at different levels of the local level, and joint participation of all parties", make overall plans and coordination, optimize the methods, highlight the key points, and innovate means, and earnestly do a good job in the publicity, mobilization, organization and implementation of the census. In order to strengthen organizational leadership, the State Council will establish a leading group for the Fifth National Economic Census, which will be responsible for research and decision-making on major issues in the organization and implementation of the census. Local people's governments at all levels should set up corresponding census leading groups and their offices to conscientiously organize the census implementation in their own areas. The funds needed for the census shall be shared by the central and local people's governments at all levels according to the current funding channels, included in the corresponding annual financial budgets, and allocated on time to ensure that they are in place and ensure the smooth implementation of the census. The Notice requires that all census workers and census objects must fill in and submit census forms on time and truthfully in strict accordance with the provisions of the Statistics Law of the People's Republic of China and the Regulations on National Economic Census. No unit or individual may falsely report, conceal, refuse to report or delay to report, or forge or tamper with census data. The unit and personal data obtained from the census shall be strictly limited to the purpose of the census and shall not be used as the basis for any unit to reward or punish census objects. The Notice emphasized that we should always adhere to the principle of data quality first, strictly implement the census plan, standardize the census work process, effectively prevent and punish statistical fraud, and ensure that census data are true, accurate, complete and credible. Census institutions at all levels should establish and improve the census data quality control system and post responsibility system, improve the census data quality traceability and accountability mechanism, enforce census discipline, and resolutely eliminate all kinds of human intervention in census data. (Liu Xinshe)