This paper examines the state of official ICT statistics in China and tries to assess ICT development in China from the currently available information. This can be seen as a first order stocktaking. The aim would be to move to a situation where data can be collected more systematically from China so as to compare them internationally.

Compared with OECD countries, statistics play a unique role in China, as they are an important tool for showing the progress made towards reaching the quantitative goals set in each Five-Year Plan. The provision of statistical data by various government bodies is therefore quite comprehensive, but because of he objective of these statistics, the information is often not or only partially comparable internationally. Most data from non-official sources are based on official statistics. The Chinese government recently passed legislation which restricts the collection of statistical data by foreign bodies, be they private or ...