Information technology will be fully applied to China's statistical information system in the areas of data collection, transmission, processing, control, publication and development in the next five years.

The move is aimed at enabling statistical departments to better serve the national economic and social development, Zhu Zhixin, Commissioner of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), said at the International Symposium on Network Economy and Economic Governance here Friday.

The NBS was one of the first departments of the central government to make use of computers. A packed-switch network for data communications has been in operation between the NBS and provincial offices.

China's statistical system has employed over 70 thousand full- time statisticians and two million part-time statisticians. By the end of last year, almost all the data processing work of official statistical agencies was done with computers.

While government departments are the major users of traditional statistical services, the NBS will expand its services in society, Zhu said.

Facing the development of the network economy, the NBS is obliged to initiate new channels through which statistical information can become accessible for the public and businesses, he said.