economy - Volume retail is only half of what it officially is

When the government decided almost a year ago to increase the official GDP-figure with 17 percent, quite a few people must have been scratching their head. For example at Access Asia, a company that provides market figures for almost any retail industry you can think off. This week they explain what it took to revamp all their figures. Well, it took at least a year of work and it has not yet finished.
Almost funny is how they had to evaluate the official figures on the retail sector.

We are not saying that the Chinese government has been lying about the size of the retail market in China. It relies on the NBS to provide it with data. It provides two sets of figures (as above), one obviously too small, and one (roughly indicative of total domestic trade) obviously too big. Which one would you choose, given that you want foreign companies to continue investing in developing your country’s domestic economy?

The outcome? In 2005 the retail market was valued at RMB3,647.73bn (US$452bn). Per capita, this works out as RMB2,767 (US$343). Better check it yourself too, before you mail it to your headquarter.