Variable Definition Overview

Throughout all tables, "na" indicates that data are not available. Also, "--" indicates a number that is negligible (between 0 and 0.5), but is only used when found in the original source. Numbers listed in the original source that are so small that they show as zero, given the assigned units, are left as zero. Therefore, zeros designate data that are available, but the value of which is zero or a negligible amount (less than 0.5). However, there are instances where China's publications leave a cell empty rather than using a zero to report no production and we are almost certain that the figure should in fact be a zero. Nevertheless, we have generally chosen to follow China's reporting since we have not always been able to definitively determine that any particular entry should in fact have been a zero rather than "na." With all tables, unless otherwise stated, tons refer to metric tons and years are calendar years and include production of crops harvested within that year.

Most provincial level tables include a footnote indicating Hainan data are not available until 1988 and data for earler years are included in the Guangdong province figure. Up until 1988, Hainan was only an administrative region (prefecture) within Guangdong. However, in 1988 Hainan Island was accorded provincial status, making it necessary to add Hainan to the list of provinces. In a few tables included in this bulletin data are provided for Hainan province beginning prior to 1988. The numbers, taken from the Hainan Tongji Nianjian (Hainan Statistical Yearbook), were then subtracted from the Guangdong province number to balance out the total. Hainan numbers were not added to the majority of tables because of inconsistencies between the reported Hainan province data and the prefecture level data reported for Hainan in various Guangdong yearbooks (Guangdongsheng Tongji Nianjian). Full historical series for Hainan province, therefore, await additional data releases from the State Statistical Bureau.

Numbers in parentheses below each table refer to items listed in the References section of this report. Although efforts were made to give complete source listings for each table, occasionally space limitations prevented the listing of all sources when data in a given table came from a wide variety of different sources. If necessary, information on specific data points can be obtained from China Section staff by calling (202) 219-0626.

USDA's regional categorization in the provincial tables differs from the regional groupings currently used in China's statistical publications. All regional totals, therefore, are sums of provincial data, not published PRC statistics. Also, the sum of total provincial data in some cases does not equal the national total of the SSB. This is generally because the national totals used are the latest revisions, and revised provincial details for the new SSB totals are not available. Finally, as far as is known, provincial data have been affected by, though not adjusted for, the July l, l979, changes in provincial boundaries. Inner Mongolia (Nei Monggol) was substantially enlarged at the expense of Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning.

Some kinds of data, however, such as provincial per capita consumption of specific goods or crop cost of production, cannot be simply summed to obtain a regional total because each province has a different population base or sample size. In these cases, provinces have been arranged in their normal regions and national totals have been included, but the separate parts have not been summed to obtain a regional total.

The definitions listed below are an adjunct to the footnotes below the tables themselves. These definitions are valid unless otherwise indicated by a specific note attached to a table. It was not possible to get complete definitions for all terms used in the tables. China's statistical publications are notorious for the paucity of descriptive information for their statistics. Nevertheless, an attempt was made to provide some guidance to the meanings of terms by collecting information and definitions from a wide variety of published and unpublished sources, as well as information gleaned from interviews with officials and researchers in China. Many of the definitions included here are, at least in part, from either a detailed 1979 handbook defining state farm statistics or a more general 1980 handbook defining basic agricultural statistics. We limited the use of state farm definitions to agronomic definitions of crops because these are the most likely to be the same across the various statistical systems (SSB, MOA, state farm, etc.).

• Aquatic Products -- Aquatic products includes both fresh water and salt water fish and products, both naturally cured and artificially cultured, including sea fish, seaweed, shellfish, mollusk and crustacea. Water plants, such as water chestnuts and lotus roots, are excluded.

• Area -- Crop area statistics are reported on the basis of sown area, not harvested area. Sown area is land on which crops are planted and from which a harvest is expected. Since land is frequently sown two or more times a year, sown area is substantially larger than cultivated area (see Multiple Cropping Index). Area of crops destroyed prior to the scheduled reporting date is excluded, but area suffering disasters after the scheduled reporting date is included. Seedbed area is not included unless it is planted with another crop after its seedlings have been transplanted. Area of crops cultivated along roadsides is excluded, but area intercropped in orchards is included. Area of perennial crops is included in the year the crop yields a harvest, regardless of when it was actually planted. Crops regrown from the previous season's stubble are not counted again in the second year's sown area.

  Readers should be aware that many of China's agriculture officials and scholars believe that China underreports grain area. Interviews with officials in China have found a general consensus that cultivated area is underreported by around 30 percent. See China Agriculture and Trade Report, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, July 1991, p. 18, for a brief report on the history and implications of grain area underreporting in China.

• Bast Fiber -- Bast fibers include jute, ramie, flax, Indian hemp (da ma) and an other bast fiber plant category. The other category includes sisal (jian ma) and an unknown number of other minor bast fiber crops. Indian hemp is treated separately from ambary hemp (kenaf).

• Cattle -- Cattle statistics include yellow cattle (see definition), water buffalo, yaks (maoniu) and dairy cattle (both local and hybrid breeds).

• Chemical Fiber -- Chemical fibers includes two types of fibers: synthetic fibers (hecheng xianwei) and viscose fibers (nianjiao xianwei).

• Cigarettes -- Two common units of measurement for cigarettes are cases and boxes (packs). One case contains 250 cartons, and each carton contains 10 boxes of 20 cigarettes each.

• Citrus Fruit -- Citrus fruit production and area statistics cover all varieties of citrus (orange, tangerine, grapefruit, etc.).

• Cloth -- Cloth output, measured in linear meters, includes the total of pure cotton cloth, cotton blends, and pure synthetic fabrics. Output figures in square meters available for 1978-83 indicate that the average width rose from 0.933 meters in 1979 to 0.989 meters in 1983.

• Corn -- Corn output is reported on a dry kernel (shelled or off the cob) basis. It is considered to be on a dry weight basis when water content is between 14 and 18 percent depending on the province.

• Cost of Production -- China began publishing production cost data for major agricultural crops in 1986 (beginning with cost data for 1984). The data should be used with caution. The sample size is extremely small and it is unknown whether or not the sample selection was random. The meaning and consistency of definitions, both within and between crops, is also unknown.

• Cotton -- All cotton statistics are on a lint (deseeded) basis. Also, all cotton data excludes tree cotton (mumian).

• Crop Classification -- China's crop classification separates crop area and production into three broad categories: grain crops, economic crops, and other crops. Economic crops (jingji zuowu) include most nongrain crops: cotton, jute, hemp, other fiber crops, oilseeds, sugarcane, sugarbeets, tobacco, medicinal crops and a miscellaneous category. Other crops includes vegetables, melons, fodder crops and green manure.

• Cultivated Land -- Statistics on cultivated land refer only to permanent cropland and include land left fallow for less than 3 years.

• Disaster -- China tabulates the amount of cultivated area seriously affected (chengzai) by natural disaster. Disaster includes flood, drought, frost, freeze, wind and hail damage. Serious damage is defined as normal yields reduced by 30 percent or more. Another category, slightly affected (shouzai) area, tallies area with yield loss of 29 percent or less.

• Draft Animals -- Draft animals are defined as animals used for field preparation and/or hauling. This includes yellow cattle, water buffalo, horses, mules, donkeys and camels. It excludes draft animals that are too old to work or that are not actually used for draft work.

• Edible Oil -- Edible oil production data is defined as edible vegetable oil (shiyong zhiwu you), differing substantially from other statistics given as the oil equivalent of total oilseed production or from per capita edible oil consumption data which includes both edible plant and animal oils. The edible oils from soybeans, rice bran, and corn, which would be excluded from the PRC definition of total oilseeds, are all included in edible vegetable (plant) oil figures. Part of cottonseed oil is also included. Edible animal oils would include lard and some other minor oils. See Zhongguo Nongye Nianjian, 1983 (China Agriculture Yearbook, 1983), p. 147 for a comparison, by province, of the two different components of edible oil (vegetable and animal).

• Eggs -- Egg (fresh) output and consumption statistics in China include both chicken and duck eggs. Other minor eggs may also be included (goose, pigeon, quail, etc.).

• Farm Machinery Power -- Total farm machinery power includes the total mechanical power of machinery used in farming, forestry, animal husbandry, fishery and such farm sideline occupations as plowing, irrigating, draining, harvesting, farm product processing, agricultural transport, plant protection and stock breeding. It excludes machinery used in township (commune-run) industry, construction, nonagricultural transport, scientific experimentation and teaching. Prior to 1986, internal combustion engines were counted according to horsepower and electric motors were counted by converting from kilowatt to horsepower (one horsepower equals 735 watts). Pre-1986 data was converted to a kilowatt basis to make the data consistent.

• Fertilizer -- Fertilizer statistics in China are measured in three different production units: actual, standard and effective weight. Actual weight is the gross weight of the product. Standard weight is weight converted into weight of standard fertilizers: ammonium sulfate (20 percent nitrogen), super phosphate (18.7 percent P205), and potassium sulfate (40 percent K2O). Effective weight measures the actual nutrient content. Standard fertilizer weights are not available after the early 1980's. Note that fertilizer application data prior to 1966 are not available and fertilizer sales volume has been used as a proxy.

• Fertilizer Use -- Fertilizer use is measured per unit of cultivated rather than sown area.

• Forage Area -- Forage crop area in China likely includes area sown to fodder crops or sown and then used to graze livestock. Also, forage area may include lake, pond or canal area used to grow water plants (water hyacinth, etc.) for fodder. Forage crop area includes alfalfa, elephant grass (xiangcao), etc. It excludes area used to grow grain to feed livestock (it is included in grain area statistics), although it includes grain area that is harvested for green silage use (green corn stems, etc.).

• Forestry -- Forestry comprises the planting of various kinds of trees (tea plantations, mulberry fields and orchards excluded), collection of forestry products and cutting or felling of bamboo and trees.

• Fruit -- Fruit statistics do not include area or output from wild orchards or trees, or any fruit-type melons (watermelon, honeydew melon, cantaloupe, muskmelon, etc.). Instead, all melons are included in either the melon category (fruit-type melons) or in the vegetable category (vegetable-type melons).

• Goat Milk -- Goat milk output numbers are currently not available. The numbers presented are calculated as a residual -- total milk minus cow milk.

• Grain -- Production figures for grain represent rough (unprocessed) weight. Potatoes are converted to grain equivalents on a 5:1 basis. Figures on total grain and potato production prior to 1964 have been adjusted to a consistent 5:1 dry weight grain basis. Official data for those years converted potatoes at a 4:1 rate. Beans are added based on weight after removal from pods and drying. The major grains (rice, wheat, corn, sorghum and millet) are calculated on a dry, rough (unprocessed, unmilled, or unhusked) weight basis. Corn output is calculated on a shelled (off the cob) basis. The definition for Total Grain Production lists the individual grains included. Grain consumption and trade data are reported on a trade weight basis.

• Green Manure -- In China, green manure crop area statistics can include Chinese milk vetch (ziyunying), safflower grass (honghuacao), Chinese trumpet creeper (tiaozi), fragrant thoroughwort (lanhuacao), wild soybean (shanmaodou), and other miscellaneous plants used for green manure. Legume and rapeseed area for crops planted specifically for use as green manure are also included. If the crop was originally intended to be harvested, but the crop fails and the farmer decides to use it as green manure, then it continues to be counted under bean and rapeseed area.

• Gross Value of Agricultural Output (GVAO) -- GVAO data for China are very difficult to use. There are a wide variety of definitions, depending on the source of the data, for what activities are and are not included in the statistics. Also, data available for 1984-85 shows that the statistics do not consistently differentiate between current prices and constant 1980 prices. A close comparison of current price GVAO and constant 1980 price GVAO data finds some provinces reporting identical numbers. Readers should see the specific footnotes below the GVAO tables for more information.

• Huma -- In China, huma is used to produce an edible oil, huma you, almost indistinguishable from sesame oil (zhima you). Huma oil is the primary edible oil in China's northwestern provinces, which grow few other oilseeds for edible oil.

• Investment -- Investment in agriculture is generally broken down into two categories: state budgetary expenditures on agriculture and agricultural capital construction investment (which covers construction, expansion, transformation and restoration projects, as well as purchases and installation of equipment). State budgetary investment primarily involves capital construction, rural production support and working capital. National agricultural capital construction investment, broken down by sector (crops, livestock, forestry, aquatics, water conservation, meteorology and services), includes investments by all levels of government (central, province, prefecture, county and township). Individual or collective (sometimes referred to as extrabudgetary) investment is excluded. At different times the definitions for agricultural investment changed, particularly with respect to investment in meteorological facilities.

• Irrigated Area -- Irrigated area is level land that is effectively irrigated or has water sources and complete sets of irrigation equipment to lift and move adequate water to the fields under normal conditions.

• Jute -- Jute (huanghong ma) statistics include ambary hemp (kenaf). Jute is separate from Indian hemp (da ma). It is not clear whether meng hemp (also known as Indian mallow or China jute) is included in jute or whether it is included in Indian hemp. Older jute series are reported on an unprocessed basis. More recent series are reported on a processed basis and have adjusted the older data to reflect the change.

• Knits -- Data on knits or knitted goods includes both knitting wool and woolen knitwear.

• Large and Medium Tractor -- The current definitions for large and medium tractors is 20 horsepower (hp) or more and small tractors is less than 20 hp. Previously, large tractors were 60 hp, medium tractors were 30-59 hp and small tractors were less than 29 hp. It is not clear when the change was made or if the old statistics have been adjusted to reflect this change.

• Livestock -- Livestock statistics include all animals, whether used in agriculture or not, but exclude all aquaculture (cultured, freshwater, or saltwater).

• Mixed Average Price -- Mixed average retail or procurement prices are an average of the fixed, negotiated and open market prices for a commodity, as well as an average of various standards, grades and qualities.

• Multiple Crop Index (MCI) -- The multiple crop index (or MCI) is a common measure of the intensity of land use. It is the ratio of sown area to cultivated area, expressed as a percentage.

• Mutton -- Mutton output statistics in China include both sheep and goat meat, though animal inventory statistics do provide separate sheep and goat data.

• Oilseed Crops -- Oilseed crops, according to China's official definition, includes peanut, rapeseed, sesameseed, sunflowerseed, huma and other (a number of minor oilseeds). Soybean, cottonseed, and oil-bearing seeds and nuts from trees are excluded. Soybean, excluded from oilseed crops, are considered a grain crop in China's statistics.

• Other Edible Oilseeds -- Other edible oilseed data are calculated as a residual. Other edible oilseeds likely includes such miscellaneous crops as castor bean, safflowerseed and perillaseed.

• Other grains -- It is unclear exactly which grains make up the other grain category, although it probably includes barley, oats, buckwheat, proso millet, meng beans, broad beans, ormosia beans and an unknown number of other minor grains or legumes. Output is measured minus the pod and on a dry weight basis.

• Peanut -- Peanut output statistics are calculated on a shelled, dry weight basis.

• Population -- Population statistics include military personnel, but excludes Taiwan. Rural population refers to persons whose permanent residence is outside the jurisdiction of a city or a town. However, in 1982, 1984 and 1991, the definitions for rural and urban population were changed. With the 1991 change, the statistics were recalculated back to the year 1982. Data from 1949-81 remained unchanged.

• Poultry meat -- Poultry meat output and consumption statistics include meat from all varieties of poultry (chicken, duck, goose, etc.).

• Tubers (Potatoes) -- Tubers are considered a grain crop in China and are included in total grain production statistics. Includes both sweet potatoes and Irish potatoes, but, at least in recent years, excludes taro and cassava. Some Irish potato production is excluded. In some provinces, potatoes grown for use as vegetables are not counted as grain. Tuber statistics are converted to grain equivalents on a 5:1 dry weight grain basis. Tuber data prior to 1965 was converted on a 4:1 basis, so those years were adjusted to the new standard 5:1 equivalent basis.

• Procurement -- Procurement data is usually presented either on a trade grain (milled) rather than a raw grain (unmilled) basis. The most inclusive category of procurement is total social procurement (shehui shougou) and includes all procurement by all types of government and non-government entities (supply and marketing cooperatives, authorized factories or processing plants, etc.). Two other somewhat less inclusive categories of procurement that are frequently encountered in the statistics are state commercial enterprise and supply and marketing cooperative procurement (quanmin suoyou shangye he gongxiao hezuoshe shougou) and total commercial procurement (shehui shangye shougou). It is unclear which of the two lesser categories is more inclusive than the other, though it is likely that total commercial procurement is the smallest of the three types.

• Procurement Prices -- Procurement prices are the prices paid by the State to the peasant for certain targeted agricultural crops. These are generally reported as mixed average procurement prices and are based on a variety of standards, varieties and grades for each specific commodity.

• Raw Grain -- A raw grain basis means that all the grains are in an unprocessed (unhusked) form. Generally speaking, production statistics are on a raw grain basis, while consumption, trade and procurement statistics are on a trade (processed) grain basis.

• Red Meat -- Red meat output, including beef, pork and mutton, refers to carcass weight. In general, red meat statistics exclude heads, hooves and offal, but include bone.

• Rice -- Rice includes water and dry-land variety rice. Rice grown in northern China is single crop late rice, also called Northern rice. Rice grown in southern China includes early rice, intermediate and single crop late rice, and finally, double crop late rice. Production of rice is generally measured on a dry, unmilled (or rough) weight basis.

• Rural Labor Force -- China's rural labor force refers to the series originally reported by the SSB as rural collective and individual laborers (nongcun jiti he geti laodongzhe). Rural labor is broken down into farm work, rural industry, construction, transportation, commerce and miscellaneous occupations. Beginning in 1985, new definitions were used to compile rural and urban labor force statistics. These new definitions were then used to adjust the old data back to 1978. Also, in 1978 rural industrial labor at and below the village-level was shifted from agriculture to industry.

• Shoes -- Data on shoes includes rubber, sports (athletic) and leather shoes.

• Slaughter Rate -- The slaughter rate of livestock, a measure of the rate of slaughter of animal inventory, is calculated by dividing slaughter during a given year by the beginning inventory of that year.

• Small Tractors -- Small tractors are currently defined as tractors with less than 20 horsepower. Formerly, this category included tractors with less than 29 horsepower.

• Soybean -- Soybean includes the following varieties: yellow (huang), green (qing), black (hei) and others. Soybean production statistics are on a dry, out of pod weight basis.

• Sugar -- Sugar statistics in China include processed cane sugar and beet sugar. The statistics are presented simply as "sugar" (tang). There is no further explanation. Although unconfirmed, officials in China have told USDA officers that sugar production and trade figures are reported on a refined rather than a raw weight basis. They also indicated that approximately 75 percent is white sugar and 25 percent is brown sugar.

• Sugarbeet -- Production figures are on the basis of beet root weight (excluding leaves and stalks). All sugarbeet production is included in output statistics, no matter the ultimate enduse (produce sugar, use for livestock feed, or use as a vegetable, etc.).

• Sugarcane -- Sugarcane production is computed on a cane stalk weight basis (excludes leaves). Output statistics include both sugarcane (tangzhe) and fruitcane (guozhe). Harvesting, carried out from the winter of the first calendar year to the spring of the next, is all included in the first year.

• Tea -- Tea production statistics include all tea harvested, whether from cultivated area or wild tea plants. Tea production is calculated on a dry weight basis.

• Tobacco -- Tobacco output is on a dry weight basis. China reports data for total tobacco leaf and the flue-cured portion. The remainder includes local tobacco varieties. "Other tobacco" is calculated by subtracting flue-cured tobacco from total tobacco.

• Total Grain -- China's definition of total grain includes rice, wheat, corn, sorghum, millet, other miscellaneous grains, tubers (potatoes) and soybeans. Minor grains and pulses are included in the "other miscellaneous grains" category.

• Total Oilseeds -- Total oilseeds includes peanuts, rapeseed, sunflowerseed, sesameseed, huma and other such miscellaneous oilseed crops as castor bean, safflowerseed and perillaseed. Soybeans, cottonseed and oil-bearing seeds and nuts from trees are not included.

• Trade -- Data in the historical series are those from China's Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade (MOFERT). Exports are now on a free on board (f.o.b.) basis while imports are on a cost, insurance, and freight (c.i.f.) basis. MOFERT data include all types of trade under the Ministry's jurisdiction, whether or not entering China's ports. The value added to goods imported, processed, and re-exported, such as labor costs and processing fees, is also included. But, MOFERT data exclude local trade not under its jurisdiction, trade of some joint ventures, and all individual dealings. MOFERT statistics also include aid commitments not yet delivered to China.

• Statistics from China's Customs Administration, another set of slightly different trade statistics, became available in 1981. These statistics differ from those of MOFERT. Particularly in the early 1980's, Customs numbers tended to be lower than MOFERT because coverage in some cases was more limited. However, as ever- increasing numbers of independent (non-MOFERT administered) trading enterprises have been established, Custom's statistics have grown to be larger than those provided by MOFERT. Statistics from the Customs Administration include trade only via China's ports and only customs-cleared aid donations. But, they include the full value of goods imported, processed, and re-exported. They also cover a broader range of imports and exports, including trade of local and provincial enterprises not reporting to MOFERT, all joint enterprises, and trade by individuals and firms.

• Trade Grain -- Statistics on procurement and sales of grain are based reported on a trade grain basis. Trade grain is defined as unhusked rice and millet have been converted into husked forms according to standard conversion factors. Other grains (wheat, sorghum, etc.) remain in their unprocessed weight. Generally speaking, consumption, trade or procurement statistics are on a trade grain basis, while production statistics are on a raw grain (unprocessed) basis.

• Vegetables -- Figures are only available for total vegetable area. As far as is known, China's statistical system does not collect vegetable production data. All area sown to vegetables and vegetable-type melons (cucumber, squash, pumpkin, winter melon, bitter melon, towel gourd, etc.) are included. Area sown to fruit- type melons (watermelon, cantaloupe, muskmelon, etc.) is excluded. Instead, fruit-type melon area is included in a separate melon category. Other items included in vegetable area statistics are fennel (aniseed), water-bamboo (jiaobei), taro (yutou), ginger (shengjiang), etc.

• Winter Wheat -- Winter wheat production and area data is not published. However, it can be derived by subtracting published data on spring wheat from total wheat.

• Wool -- Total wool production data include mohair (shanyangmao) and sheep wool (mianyangmao), but exclude cashmere (shanyangrong). Sheep wool output is broken down further, breaking out fine (60's count grade or higher) and semi-fine ( 36 to 58's count grade) wool output.

• Yarn -- Yarn is the sum-total of cotton yarn, synthetic yarn and cotton-synthetic blended yarn. Only national level data is available for pure cotton yarn output.

• Yellow Cattle -- Yellow cattle is a generic term for all of China's native cattle.