China - Classical Approach http://www.fao.org/economic/ess/ess-events/wca2020bangkok/en/

1. Roundtable on
World Programme for the Census of Agriculture 2020
Bangkok, Thailand
19-23 September 2016
Xianhong Bai
Senior Statistician
NBS of China
ebaixianhong@sina.com
Classical Approach:the
Third Agricultural Census
in China(2016)
Technical Session 3
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2. 2
1.1 Historical outline of agricultural censuses in China
Agricultural Census in China is undertaken every ten years.
China has conducted AC in 1996 and 2006.
The third National AC will be undertaken in 2016.
1.2 Legal basis
Chinese State Council enacted the Regulations on Agricultural Census
in 2006, and the AC has legal basis thence.
1.Introduction & Background

3. 1.3 Census Organization
The State Council established National Agricultural Census
Office(NACO) for the third AC in 2015. It is created as a department
in the NBS, and its staff are from 14 ministries including Ministry of
Agriculture, Ministry of Treasury, etc. It is a temporary census office.
The leading organs and their offices were set up under the State
Council, provincial, prefecture and county governments；
Census offices were established in township and town government;
AC groups were set up in the village boards. They are temporary
census office , and the staff are from local government.
These census units and the organizational network are responsible for
the organization and implementation of the AC.
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4. 1.4 census budget
The sources of census funding are government of central, province,
prefecture and county level. The four-level government have their
own budget for AC.
The third AC budget of central government is about CNY 400
million($70 million).
The total estimated budget of the second census is about CNY 4
billion($ 600 million).
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5. 2. Methodology used in the census of
agriculture in China
2.1 Statistical unit
Six questionnaires will be used in the Chinese third AC. Specific
questionnaires are designed for some types of holdings. Household
sector and non-household sector have different questionnaires .
Data are collected from all agricultural holdings and institutions,
including:
Households;
Non-household agricultural unit;
Administrative Villages;
townships and Towns.
We collect information on Agricultural Land Parcel for remote sense. 5

6. 2.2 Census scope
The scope of the Chinese AC is broader and more complex than in
many other countries. The census collected information on many
aspects of the rural economy。Chinese AC is called census of ‘three
dimension’, i.e. agriculture, rural area and peasant.
We collect detailed data on:
Agriculture: including crop production, animal husbandry, forestry ,
fishery sector and agriculture service;
Rural area: including information on development of village and
township; Community, infrastructure and environmental facilities,etc.
Peasant: collecting the basic information on Households operating
agriculture and households contracting land and living in rural
area ,including living facilities ,etc. The village owe the land and rural
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7. 2.3 Methodological approach
China undertake a “classical” census.
We design the short questionnaire to collect the basic information on living
and agricultural activities on common holders. The long questionnaire
collects more detailed information from scale holders and is undertaken in
the same visit. We identify holding by using the cut-offs:
The planting area is beyond 100 mu.(about 6.7 hectare);
The pigs are beyond 200 heads;
The sale of agricultural productions are beyond 100 thousand.(about $ 15.7
thousand )
A combination of list frames is used for the AC in China. The frame is
compiled from registers, other administrative records and statistical sources.
Advanced technologies are adopted as methods of enumeration to increase
efficiencies and improve the quality od data. 7

8. 2.4 Complete enumeration
The third AC is conducted by complete enumeration of all the
statistical units defined for each questionnaire.
The enumerators directly will interview each agricultural holder and
fill out the questionnaires item by item.
The enumeration district refers to an area under a village board’s
jurisdiction, with one supervisor assigned to it.
The sub-district refers to an area covering about 100 households under
a village board’s jurisdiction.
The complete enumeration will involve more than 200 million rural
households.
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9. 2.5 Frame, number and type of questionnaires used;
There were six questionnaires. We designed the short questionnaire
for the holders under the scale, and the long questionnaire for scale
holders. The statistical units defined for each questionnaire.
Questionnaire for Rural Households;
Questionnaire for Rural Scale Households;
Questionnaire for Non-household Holdings;
Questionnaire for administrative Villages;
Questionnaire for townships and Towns;
Questionnaire for Agricultural Land Parcel.
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10. 2.6 Enumeration period and Reference period and date.
The reference day is twenty-fourth hour of 31 December 2016;
reference period is 1 January to 31 December 2016.
The field enumeration is completed during a period of three months
from 1 January to 31 March 2017.
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11. 2.7 Enumeration method
Personal Digital Assistant(PDA) will be used for the enumerators to
interview the respondents in the Chinese third AC .
Questionnaire for villages, townships and Towns will be reported
directly on internet.
The remote sense technology is adopt to survey the sowing area of
main grain crop. The unmanned aerial vehicle and Global positioning
Systems will be used for the field works.
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12. 2.8 Data quality control and post- enumeration survey
The programme for data quality control was developed on the
principle that each phase of the process have to be checked at all levels
to minimize errors.
A pre-enumeration survey is implemented to prepare the sketch of
each enumeration sub-district, formulate the survey plan and get a list
of households and non-households.
We are designing the post-enumeration survey. The PES will be
carried out in April after the end of the enumeration period to check
the quality of the census data on household questionnaire .
Census and PES records will be matched and census-PES
discrepancies will be computed, reconciled and understood.
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13. 2.9 Census innovation
I think that the short-long questionnaire concept is somewhat different
from that in World Programme 2020.
The basic information is the same. The 95 percent of households fill
in short questionnaire, about 5 percent of households fill in long one
at the same time, not at a second visit. The households filling in long
questionnaire are not a sample of the households population.
We innovate the enumeration methods for the third AC. It is the first
time that we use the electronic questionnaire on Personal Digital
Assistant(PDA) to conduct the interview, fill in village and township
questionnaire on the internet, undertake remote sense to survey the
planting area of main grain crop.
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14. 3.1 Lessons learnt
Devoting sufficient time and resources to planning and research in
preparation for the census. There should be enough pilot census before
printing the formal questionnaires.
Consider the administrative system of the country and rural households’
ability to respond to questionnaires.
Taking into account the items in World Programme for the Census of
Agriculture.
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15. 3.2 Challenges encountered and how to overcome
The second AC designed more than one questionnaire for one sort
respondent, which was proved to be not so operable, and the peasants
complained it was complex.
The third AC try to simplify the statistical unit, to reform the design of
questionnaires.
Design the short and long questionnaires. Most of the respondent, no-
scale holders fill in the simple short one. We overcome somewhat the
challenge encountered in second AC.
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16. 3.3 Changes regarding the census methodology in the
next census of agriculture.
The third AC in China is three dimension census with a broad scope of
agriculture, rural households, poverty, villages ,town and townships.
The scope maybe be greater than that recommended by FAO.
A careful review of the scope of AC should be undertaken as part of
the preparations for the fourth AC in 2026. The AC should focus on
the agriculture, not take into account the family information which is
collected by household survey.
Reduce the six questionnaires, combine the common, scale and non-
household questionnaires into one.
Adopt two-phase approach, with complete enumeration for basic data
and a sample survey for more detailed data.
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17. THANK YOU
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