ABSTRACT
It is well known that there are two distinct systems of national income accounting in the world. The first is the system of material product balances (MPS) adopted by the former USSR, the Eastern European countries, and the People's Republic of China (PRC); the other is the system of national accounts (SNA) which is being used by most of the western countries. The making of the MPS is tailored to the needs of the socialist economic system, which is characterized by the highly centralized management of its planned economy. The fundamental content of this system is the record of activities in production, distribution, exchange and the usage of material products. Making use of the balance tables, the main aspects of production process of material products can then be reflected. The main aggregative indicators are total output value of society (shehui zongchanzhi) and national income (guomin shouru). On the other hand, the SNA is an accounting system which, under the conditions of a market economy, employs the concept of value-added to incorporate the macroeconomic variables into a consistent social accounting framework. Economic activities of various sectors of the national economy, including both material production and non-material production departments, are estimated in this system. By means of double-entry accounting, it employs the tools like accounts and matrices to ascertain the various aspects of production, distribution and usage of goods and services.
