To support the implementation of the Measures for the Declaration of Balance of Payments Statistics, and further improve the data quality and efficiency of trade credit survey, the SAFE has recently released the Circular on the Issuance of the Trade Credit Survey System (Huifa No.1 [2016], the “Circular”) to amend the trade credit survey system.

The Circular strikes a balance between improvement of statistical data quality and reduction of reporting burden, with the amendment as follows: 1. Simplifying survey indicators. Corporate credit and bank credit, and short and long terms will no longer be differentiated. The statistical and reporting methods and dimensions will be basically consistent with the Accounting System for Business Enterprises (ASBE). 2. Improving the timeliness of surveys. Surveys will be conducted on a monthly rather than quarterly basis, and both monthly and annual surveys will be conducted, but on different companies. Data will be reported on a monthly and annual basis respectively. 3. Focusing on key enterprises. Enterprises above designated size will be the targets of surveys. The total number of companies to be surveyed will be consistent with the number in the past surveys, but most enterprises will participate in the annual survey and limited ones in monthly surveys.