Brief Introduction

I. Main Content

Statistics in this chapter reflect the living conditions of residents in Beijing and their changes, consisting of three parts, including the living conditions of the residents of the whole city, urban residents and rural residents. Figures include the basic family situation, household income and expenditures in cash, purchase quantity and expenditures of main commodities, housing conditions and number of durable consumer goods in possession.

II. Source of Statistics 

Statistics on the living conditions of urban and rural residents are from NBS Survey Office in Beijing, and Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics.

III. Method of Survey

Methods and plans of survey for living conditions of urban and rural residents are designated by National Bureau of Statistics. The method of sampling survey is adopted to take samples across Beijing Municipality following the principle of selecting representative residents in terms of major income and expenditure indicators. Samples are changed in certain periods to ensure their representativeness. For selected residents, statistics are gathered through journals and questionnaires.

IV. Scope of Survey

Scope of survey for urban residents: In 2000-2003, the survey covered 1,000 urban households in 8 urban districts; in 2004-2006, covered 2,000 urban households in 8 urban districts; in 2007 covered 3,000 urban households in all districts and counties; in 2008-2012, covered 5,000 households in all districts and counties.

Scope of survey for rural residents: In 2000-2002, the survey covered 2,710 households in 14 suburban districts and counties; in 2003, covered 2,670 households (All rural residents became urban residents in Shijingshan District, so 40 samples were cancelled.) in 13 suburban districts and counties; in 2004-2012 covered 3,000 households in 13 suburban districts and counties.

Integration of survey on urban and rural residents: in 2013, according to the requirements of the National Bureau of Statistics on carrying out integrated reforms of urban and rural resident survey, and Survey Plan on Income and Expenditure, and Living Conditions of Households, the NBS Survey Office in Beijing and Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics took a total of 10,000 samples of urban and rural residents in an integrated way.

According to requirements of National Bureau of Statistics, since 2015, Beijing has started to issue data on income and expense of residents in the city and residents in urban and rural areas according to new standards after the reform. As compared with former standards, the new standards mainly show differences in the following 3 aspects: first, according to national standards on division of urban and rural areas, village committees in urban areas that were classified into rural areas are now classified into urban areas; second, standards on resident income and expense indicators are adjusted. Core indicators reflecting resident income are unified from original “per capita disposable income” of urban residents and “per capita net income” of rural residents to “per capita disposable income”; third, based on data on resident income and expense in urban and rural areas, data on per capita disposable income and per capita consumption expense of residents in Beijing are added.

V. Meaning of Five-level Grouping

It is necessary to have groups at different income levels for observation and analysis to objectively reflect the income and expenditure and living conditions of households at different income levels. “Five-level grouping” means that households are divided into five groups in a low-to-high order regarding the per capita disposable income. These five groups are the low-income, middle-low-income, middle-income, middle-high-income and high-income groups. The number of households in each group accounts for 20% of the total. Through grouping of the households under survey, we can calculate the per capita income and consumption expenditures of each group respectively so as to observe the differences between different income groups and existing problems.