Offering data on everything from the number of households with washing machines, to the price of eggs and the use of commemorative stamps, China’s annual statistical compendium is now available — with one catch.
The 919-page yearbook, compiled by the National Bureau of Statistics and on sale for just over Rmb400 ($56), has not yet been released online and can only be bought in its hardback edition.
The book, which weighs 2.6kg, is both a remnant of an earlier era and an enduring symbol of China’s approach to official data. Comprehensive and dense, it documents the country’s development by focusing on everything from the number of acrobatic, magic and circus performances (61,000) to beneficiaries of work injury insurance per region (245,000 in Guangdong province).