This thoroughly researched and clearly written compendium of available statistical information on China provides reliable information, careful explanations, useful guides to further research, and a full bibliography. An exhaustive compilation of national and provincial statistics on mainland China from 1949 to 1959, this book covers every facet of the Communist Chinese economy and presents the most comprehensive coverage available of statistical data on China from this period. Based on data obtained directly from Chinese sources, this book is the first attempt to provide Western readers with a reliable reference on the economy of mainland China.

Nai-Ruenn Chen thoroughly and systematically examines each area of the economy and provides an authoritative guide to the terminology, classification, and method of collecting and listing data presented in the ample tables included in the book. Except in cases where missing information could be filled by simple arithmetic means or from descriptions by the Chinese themselves, no data was synthesized by inferential methods and no non-Chinese estimates were used. Rather Chen lists formulae for achieving indices for statistical measurement, defines geographical, economic, and administrative units of measurement, and explains the development of statistical procedures that have evolved in China.

This volume is divided into eleven sections: area and population; national income; capital formation and related estimates; industry; agriculture; transportation and communication; trade; prices; living standards; public finance, credit, and foreign exchange rates; and employment, labor productivity, and wages. Each section consists of two parts: one containing the explanatory text, and the other, statistical tables grouped largely according to Chinese classifications. Chinese Economic Statistics in the Maoist Era: 1949-1965 is indispensable to anyone studying China, a valuable source for students of economic development or comparative economics, and an essential addition to libraries serving these specialists.