Revised "Regulations on the National Agricultural Census"! Effective from May 1

The “National Agricultural Census Regulations” (referred to as “Regulations”) was revised and passed at the 81st executive meeting of the State Council on March 13 and will be implemented starting May 1.

It is understood that this is a significant revision since the implementation of the “Regulations” in 2006, marking a key step in the legalization, standardization, and scientific development of agricultural census work in China, providing solid legal guarantees and action guidelines for the upcoming fourth national agricultural census to be conducted in 2026.

Comprehensively Clarifying the New Foundation of “Three Rural Issues”

Officials from the Ministry of Justice and the National Bureau of Statistics introduced that the “Regulations” have been improved in three aspects regarding the basic system of agricultural census: first, in terms of organization and implementation, “joint participation by all parties” has been added as a principle for the organization and implementation of agricultural census, considering the wide scope and numerous participants involved. Second, in terms of census content, in line with the requirements for comprehensive rural revitalization, matters such as rural industrial development, rural construction, and rural governance have been added. Third, in terms of census methods, emphasis has been placed on employing modern survey techniques, adding new census methods such as remote sensing measurement, clarifying that agricultural census should make full use of administrative records, social big data, and other materials.

Weihou Kai, a member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and former director of the Rural Development Institute, pointed out that the “Regulations” have undergone significant revisions concerning census content and other clauses. Specifically, the content of Article 12 has been amended from “rural infrastructure, rural social services, farmer living conditions, and the situation of townships, villagers’ committees, and community environments” to “rural residents’ living conditions, rural industrial development, rural construction, and rural governance,” better reflecting the current development status of “three rural issues” in China; second, the scope of industries in Article 11 has been revised from “agricultural, forestry, animal husbandry, and fishery services” to “auxiliary activities of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and fishery,” better reflecting the development status of new agricultural management entities and socialized agricultural services in China.

Li Jingping, director of the Applied Statistics Research Center at Renmin University of China and a professor at the School of Statistics, believes that the revision of census subjects and industry scope makes the census more comprehensive and complete, facilitating the understanding of urban-rural integration development, and achieving alignment with international statistical standards.

Enhancing the Modernization Level and Efficiency of the Census

The agricultural census is a very complex system project. Fully utilizing modern information technology, administrative records from departments, big data, and other materials to comprehensively enhance the modernization level of the census is also an important aspect of this revision of the “Regulations.”

The newly revised Article 13 clearly states that “the Office of the State Council Agricultural Census Leading Group may decide to use sampling surveys, remote sensing measurements, and other methods for specific content.”

Li Jingping believes that, on one hand, by combining comprehensive censuses with sampling surveys, the richness of census content can be improved while ensuring the completeness of census content and effectively reducing the workload at the grassroots level; on the other hand, the legal status of methods such as remote sensing measurements has been clarified, making full use of technologies such as satellite remote sensing, drones, and artificial intelligence to accurately measure the planting areas of major grain crops and clarify the conditions of facility agriculture, comprehensively enhancing the objectivity and accuracy of census data.

Article 13 also adds the provision that “the agricultural census should fully utilize administrative records, social big data, and other materials.”

Li Jingping stated that this not only effectively expands the sources of census information, reduces repeated cross-surveys, and alleviates the burden of grassroots investigations but also helps in using administrative records from departments to create detailed verification registers, improving the efficiency of verification work and reducing registration difficulties.

Regarding the addition of “establishing and improving the agricultural census data processing system” in Article 27, Li Jingping indicated that the census relies on the achievements of the National Bureau of Statistics’ statistical cloud project, adopting a combination of online reporting and handheld mobile terminal data collection to conduct the census, achieving full-process digitization, which not only helps improve the efficiency of agricultural census work but also effectively avoids human interference, ensuring that census data is more authentic and reliable.

Census Data Quality is Highlighted

Strengthening institutional constraints, preventing and punishing data falsification, and ensuring that agricultural census data is true, accurate, complete, and timely is the top priority of this revision.

The newly revised “Regulations” have modified the wording of the first article regarding “ensuring the accuracy and timeliness of agricultural census data” to “ensuring the authenticity, accuracy, completeness, and timeliness of agricultural census data.”

Li Jingping believes that this further clarifies the quality requirements for census data. Meanwhile, Articles 5 and 24 have added that “under no circumstances shall lower-level units and their personnel or agricultural census subjects be explicitly or implicitly instructed to report false agricultural census data” and “under no circumstances shall census personnel or lower-level census offices be required to forge or alter agricultural census materials,” further clarifying prohibited behaviors in census work and delineating bottom-line red lines; Article 28 has been improved to require that “the census office shall implement quality control and inspection acceptance for each link in the implementation of the agricultural census according to the relevant requirements of the agricultural census data quality control system,” further strengthening the quality control of data throughout the process.

“These amendments clarify the responsibilities of leading cadres in organizing and leading census work in accordance with the law, ensure that census offices and personnel independently engage in census work according to the law, and detail the requirements for data quality control, providing strong guarantees for census data quality from multiple dimensions,” Li Jingping stated.

The value of data lies in its application. Weihou Kai pointed out that the newly revised “Regulations” further perfect the relevant provisions on the publication, management, and development and application of census data, guaranteeing and promoting the co-governance and sharing of agricultural census data from a legal perspective.

Proofread by: Yang Shuxin