ABSTRACT
The limits to the existence, publication and reliability of statistical information in China have been discussed in Chapter 2 already. For China’s tourism statistics, even stronger reservations have to be made. Calculations about the revenue from international visitors to China were hindered before 1994 by the double standard created by the FECs in use (Mok 1985). Besides tinkering with results for political reasons, the legacy of the pre-reform era also resulted in structural problems to obtain reliable results in the first place. ‘By no stretch of imagination can PR [People’s Republic of] China’s statistical system be regarded as sophisticated, ruined as it was between 1958 and 1978. PR China’s statistical concepts and methodology may also differ from standard international practices’ (Mok 1985: 279).
