National Agricultural Census Regulations of the PRC — Full English Translation (2026 Revision)

Promulgated by Decree No. 473 of the State Council on August 23, 2006; revised by Decree No. 833 of the State Council on March 20, 2026

Effective: May 1, 2026

Table of Contents

Chapter I — General Provisions

Article 1 — These Regulations are formulated in accordance with the Statistics Law of the People’s Republic of China for the purpose of organizing and implementing the national agricultural census in a scientific and effective manner, and safeguarding the authenticity, accuracy, completeness and timeliness of agricultural census data.

Article 2 — The purpose of the agricultural census is to comprehensively grasp the basic conditions of agriculture, rural areas and farmers in China, provide a basis for the research and formulation of economic and social development strategies, plans, policies and scientific decision-making, and provide statistical information services for agricultural producers and operators and the general public.

Article 3 — Agricultural census work shall be organized and implemented in accordance with the principles of unified national leadership, division of labor and coordination among departments, hierarchical responsibility of local governments, and joint participation of all parties.

Article 4 — State organs, social organizations, and entities and individuals related to the agricultural census shall actively participate in and closely cooperate with agricultural census work in accordance with the provisions of the Statistics Law of the People’s Republic of China and these Regulations.

Article 5 — The office of the agricultural census leading group at each level (hereinafter referred to as the census office) and the staff of the census office, census supervisors, and census enumerators (hereinafter collectively referred to as census personnel) shall independently exercise their powers of investigation, reporting, and supervision in accordance with the law, and no entity or individual shall interfere.

The persons in charge of all localities, departments, and entities shall not modify on their own the agricultural census data collected and organized by the census office and census personnel, shall not demand, by any means, that the census office or census personnel forge or tamper with agricultural census data, shall not expressly or impliedly instruct lower-level entities and their personnel or agricultural census respondents to report false agricultural census data, and shall not retaliate against entities and individuals that perform their duties in accordance with the law or that refuse or resist illegal acts in the agricultural census.

Article 6 — News media such as newspapers, periodicals, radio, television, and news websites, and internet service providers shall adopt various forms to carry out publicity and reporting on the agricultural census.

Article 7 — Funds required for the agricultural census shall be borne jointly by the central government and local people’s governments at all levels, included in the corresponding annual budgets, and disbursed on time to ensure full and timely availability.

Agricultural census funds shall be subject to unified management, earmarked for their designated purposes, and expenditure shall be strictly controlled.

Finance departments and audit departments at all levels shall, in accordance with their duties, strengthen budgetary supervision and audit supervision over agricultural census funds.

Article 8 — The agricultural census shall be conducted once every ten years, with years whose last digit is 6 as agricultural census years, and the reference time point shall be 24:00 on December 31 of the agricultural census year. The registration time of the agricultural census in special areas may be appropriately adjusted upon approval by the Office of the Agricultural Census Leading Group under the State Council.

Chapter II — Objects, Scope and Contents of the Agricultural Census

Article 9 — The respondents of the agricultural census are the following entities and individuals within the territory of the People’s Republic of China:

(1) rural households, including rural agricultural production and operation households and other households;

(2) urban agricultural production and operation households;

(3) agricultural production and operation entities;

(4) villagers’ committees;

(5) people’s governments of townships and towns.

Article 10 — Agricultural census respondents shall truthfully answer the inquiries of census personnel on questions related to the agricultural census, fill in agricultural census forms on time, and provide materials required for the agricultural census; they shall not provide untruthful or incomplete agricultural census data, and shall not report agricultural census data late or refuse to report agricultural census data.

Agricultural census respondents shall cooperate with the supervision and inspection conducted in accordance with the law by the statistics institutions of the people’s governments at or above the county level, truthfully reflect the situation, and provide relevant certificates and materials; they shall not refuse or obstruct inspection, and shall not transfer, conceal, tamper with, or destroy original records and vouchers, statistical ledgers, agricultural census forms, accounting materials and other relevant certificates and materials.

Requests for agricultural census respondents to provide forms and materials shall adhere to the principles of necessity and standardization, streamline and integrate matters to be filled in, strengthen data sharing and utilization, and reduce the burden on the grassroots level.

Article 11 — The industry scope of the agricultural census includes: crop farming, forestry, animal husbandry, fishery, and auxiliary activities of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery.

Article 12 — The contents of the agricultural census include: agricultural production conditions, agricultural production and operation activities, agricultural land use, living conditions of rural residents, rural labor force and employment, rural industry development, rural construction, rural governance, and other circumstances.

The Office of the Agricultural Census Leading Group under the State Council may adjust the contents of the agricultural census specified in the preceding paragraph according to specific circumstances.

Article 13 — The agricultural census shall adopt the method of comprehensive survey. The Office of the Agricultural Census Leading Group under the State Council may decide to adopt methods such as sampling survey and remote sensing measurement for specific contents.

The agricultural census shall make full use of administrative records, social big data and other materials.

Article 14 — The agricultural census shall implement the national statistical standards.

Article 15 — The agricultural census program shall be formulated uniformly by the Office of the Agricultural Census Leading Group under the State Council and submitted to the State Council for approval. The agricultural census shall be implemented in accordance with the provisions of the agricultural census program.

Provincial census offices may, as needed, add supplementary forms to the agricultural census and implement them after reporting to and obtaining approval from the Office of the Agricultural Census Leading Group under the State Council.

Chapter III — Organization and Implementation of the Agricultural Census

Article 16 — The State Council shall establish an agricultural census leading group and its office. The Agricultural Census Leading Group under the State Council shall be responsible for organizing and leading the national agricultural census. The Office of the Agricultural Census Leading Group under the State Council shall be located in the National Bureau of Statistics and shall be specifically responsible for organizing and coordinating the daily work of the agricultural census. The Agricultural Census Leading Group under the State Council and its office shall be dissolved automatically upon completion of their tasks.

Article 17 — Local people’s governments at all levels shall establish agricultural census leading groups and their offices, and, in accordance with the unified provisions and requirements of the Agricultural Census Leading Group under the State Council and its office, be responsible for organizing and implementing the agricultural census within their respective administrative regions. Survey institutions dispatched by the National Bureau of Statistics shall participate in the organization and implementation of the agricultural census as member units of the agricultural census leading groups and their offices. Local agricultural census leading groups at all levels and their offices shall be dissolved automatically upon completion of their tasks.

Villagers’ committees shall, under the guidance of the people’s governments of townships and towns, assist in doing a good job of the agricultural census within their respective areas.

Article 18 — Relevant departments of the people’s governments at or above the county level shall actively participate in and closely cooperate with the census offices in carrying out the agricultural census.

Agricultural census work of units affiliated with the military shall be organized and implemented uniformly by the military.

Agricultural census work of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps shall be organized and implemented by the agricultural census leading group and its office of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.

Article 19 — On-site registration of the agricultural census in rural areas shall be conducted by census area. Census areas shall be delimited on the basis of the administrative areas managed by villagers’ committees, and each census area may be divided into a number of census sub-areas.

On-site registration of the agricultural census in urban areas shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of the agricultural census program.

Article 20 — Each census sub-area shall be staffed with one census enumerator, responsible for visit registration and other work of the agricultural census. Each census area shall be staffed with at least one census supervisor, responsible for arranging, guiding, and supervising and urging the work of census enumerators, and may also directly conduct visit registration.

Census supervisors and census enumerators shall mainly be composed of rural cadres, villager group leaders, and other local residents with a relatively high level of education.

Census supervisors and census enumerators shall be in good health and have a strong sense of responsibility.

Article 21 — The census offices may, according to work needs, employ or, in accordance with provisions, second personnel from other relevant units to engage in agricultural census work. Relevant units shall actively recommend qualified personnel to engage in agricultural census work.

Employed personnel shall be paid labor remuneration by the employing unit. The wages of seconded personnel shall be paid by their original units, and their welfare benefits shall remain unchanged.

Appropriate work subsidies shall be arranged for census supervisors and census enumerators within the agricultural census funds.

Article 22 — The census offices shall conduct professional training for census supervisors and census enumerators, and issue nationally unified census supervisor certificates or census enumerator certificates to those who pass the assessment.

Article 23 — When conducting the agricultural census, census personnel shall have the right to inquire of relevant entities and individuals about questions related to the agricultural census, and to require relevant entities and individuals to truthfully provide relevant information and materials and to correct untruthful or inaccurate materials.

Article 24 — Census personnel shall adhere to seeking truth from facts, strictly abide by professional ethics, and refuse and resist illegal acts in the agricultural census.

The census offices and census personnel shall strictly implement the agricultural census program, truthfully collect and submit agricultural census data, shall not forge or tamper with agricultural census data, shall not demand, by any means, that agricultural census respondents provide untruthful agricultural census data, shall not demand, by any means, that census personnel or lower-level census offices forge or tamper with agricultural census data, and shall not engage in other acts in violation of the provisions of these Regulations.

When performing agricultural census tasks, census supervisors and census enumerators shall present their census supervisor certificates or census enumerator certificates; where such certificates are not presented, agricultural census respondents shall have the right to refuse to provide relevant information and materials.

Article 25 — Census enumerators shall directly visit agricultural census respondents in accordance with the law and conduct on-site inquiries and form-filling. After an agricultural census form is completed, it shall be confirmed by the signature or seal of the agricultural census respondent. Agricultural census respondents shall be responsible for the authenticity of the agricultural census data they have signed or sealed.

Census personnel shall be responsible for the consistency between the agricultural census data they have registered, reviewed, and entered and the agricultural census data signed or sealed by the agricultural census respondents.

The census offices shall be responsible for the authenticity, accuracy, and completeness of the agricultural census data they have processed and organized.

Chapter IV — Data Processing and Quality Control

Article 26 — The data processing program and implementation measures for the agricultural census shall be formulated by the Office of the Agricultural Census Leading Group under the State Council.

The census offices shall conduct data processing in accordance with the provisions of the data processing program and implementation measures.

Article 27 — The Office of the Agricultural Census Leading Group under the State Council shall establish and improve the agricultural census data processing system, and strengthen its daily management, maintenance, and updating to ensure data security.

Article 28 — The State shall establish a quality control system for agricultural census data.

The census offices shall, in accordance with the relevant requirements of the agricultural census data quality control system, exercise quality control and inspection and acceptance over every link in the implementation of the agricultural census.

Article 29 — A work responsibility system for quality control shall be implemented for census personnel.

Census personnel shall review, recheck, and accept agricultural census data in accordance with the provisions of the agricultural census program.

Article 30 — The Office of the Agricultural Census Leading Group under the State Council shall formulate the post-census quality sample check program and uniformly organize the post-census quality sample check. The results of the post-census quality sample check shall serve as an important basis for assessing the quality of national and local agricultural census data.

Chapter V — Data Publication, Data Management and Development and Application

Article 31 — The State shall establish a system for the publication of agricultural census data.

Aggregated agricultural census data shall, except where required to be kept confidential in accordance with the law, be published to the public in a timely manner.

National agricultural census data and major agricultural census data of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall be examined and finalized by the Office of the Agricultural Census Leading Group under the State Council and published jointly with relevant departments under the State Council.

Where local census offices publish agricultural census bulletins, they shall report to the census office at the next higher level for verification.

Article 32 — The census offices and census personnel shall keep confidential the state secrets, work secrets, trade secrets, personal privacy, and personal information that come to their knowledge in agricultural census work, and shall not disclose them or illegally provide them to others; they shall not provide to outsiders or disclose data collected in agricultural census work that can identify or infer the identity of individual agricultural census respondents, and shall not use such data for purposes other than statistics.

Article 33 — The census offices shall, in accordance with relevant state provisions, establish and improve systems for the preservation and management of agricultural census data, properly preserve and manage agricultural census data, and, upon completion of the agricultural census, promptly complete the archiving and transfer of relevant agricultural census data.

Relevant departments shall, in accordance with the law, properly carry out inter-departmental sharing of agricultural census data and the provision of services to the general public, and develop and apply agricultural census data.

Article 34 — Statistics institutions and relevant departments of the people’s governments at or above the county level may, based on the results of the agricultural census, revise historical data of relevant routine statistics, and the specific measures shall be prescribed by the National Bureau of Statistics.

Chapter VI — Rewards and Penalties

Article 35 — Entities and individuals that conscientiously implement these Regulations, are devoted to their duties, adhere to principles, and achieve outstanding results shall be rewarded in accordance with relevant state provisions.

Article 36 — Where persons in charge of localities, departments, or entities commit any of the following acts, they shall be given sanctions in accordance with the law and be notified by the statistics institutions of the people’s governments at or above the county level:

(1) modifying agricultural census data on their own or fabricating false agricultural census data;

(2) demanding that the census offices or census personnel forge or tamper with agricultural census data;

(3) expressly or impliedly instructing lower-level entities and their personnel or agricultural census respondents to report false agricultural census data;

(4) failing to detect serious discrepancies in agricultural census data and serious illegal acts in the agricultural census occurring in their locality, department, or entity;

(5) engaging in other acts of fraud or falsification in the agricultural census.

Those who retaliate against entities and individuals that perform their duties in accordance with the law or that refuse or resist illegal acts in the agricultural census shall be given sanctions and notified in accordance with the preceding paragraph.

Article 37 — Where a census office commits any of the following acts, it shall be ordered by the people’s government at the same level or the statistics institution of the people’s government at a higher level to make corrections and shall be notified; the leading personnel and directly responsible personnel who bear responsibility shall be given sanctions in accordance with the law:

(1) failing to implement the agricultural census program;

(2) forging or tampering with agricultural census data;

(3) demanding that agricultural census respondents provide untruthful agricultural census data;

(4) demanding that census personnel or lower-level census offices forge or tamper with agricultural census data.

Where census personnel commit any of the acts listed in the preceding paragraph, they shall be ordered to make corrections and given sanctions in accordance with the law.

Article 38 — Where a census office commits any of the following acts, the leading personnel and directly responsible personnel who bear responsibility shall be given sanctions in accordance with the law:

(1) publishing agricultural census data in violation of the law;

(2) disclosing or illegally providing to others state secrets, work secrets, trade secrets, personal privacy, or personal information that come to their knowledge in agricultural census work;

(3) providing to outsiders or disclosing data collected in agricultural census work that can identify or infer the identity of individual agricultural census respondents;

(4) violating relevant state provisions and causing agricultural census data to be damaged or lost.

Where census personnel commit any of the acts listed in the preceding paragraph, they shall be given sanctions in accordance with the law.

Article 39 — Where agricultural production and operation entities, villagers’ committees, or people’s governments of townships and towns that are agricultural census respondents commit any of the following acts, they shall be ordered by the statistics institutions of the people’s governments at or above the county level to make corrections, given a warning, and may be notified; where their leading personnel and directly responsible personnel who bear responsibility are public officials, they shall be given sanctions in accordance with the law:

(1) refusing or obstructing the census offices or census personnel in conducting the agricultural census in accordance with the law;

(2) providing untruthful or incomplete agricultural census data;

(3) refusing to report or, after being urged, still failing to provide agricultural census data on time;

(4) refusing or obstructing supervision and inspection;

(5) transferring, concealing, tampering with, destroying, or refusing to provide original records and vouchers, statistical ledgers, agricultural census forms, accounting materials and other relevant certificates and materials.

Where agricultural production and operation entities commit any of the acts listed in the preceding paragraph, a fine of up to 100,000 yuan may be imposed concurrently; where the circumstances are serious, a fine of not less than 100,000 yuan but not more than 500,000 yuan may be imposed concurrently.

Where rural households or urban agricultural production and operation households commit any of the acts listed in the first paragraph of this Article, they shall be ordered by the statistics institutions of the people’s governments at or above the county level to make corrections and shall be given criticism and education.

Where agricultural census respondents commit any of the acts listed in items (1) and (4) of the first paragraph of this Article, which constitutes a violation of public security administration, they shall be handled by the public security organs in accordance with the law.

Article 40 — Where agricultural production and operation entities, villagers’ committees, or people’s governments of townships and towns that are agricultural census respondents report agricultural census data late, they shall be ordered by the statistics institutions of the people’s governments at or above the county level to make corrections, given a warning, and may be notified; where their leading personnel and directly responsible personnel who bear responsibility are public officials, they shall be given sanctions in accordance with the law.

Where agricultural production and operation entities report agricultural census data late, a fine of up to 50,000 yuan may be imposed concurrently.

Where rural households or urban agricultural production and operation households report agricultural census data late, they shall be ordered by the statistics institutions of the people’s governments at or above the county level to make corrections and shall be given criticism and education.

Article 41 — Where a violation of the provisions of these Regulations causes personal injury or property loss, civil liability shall be borne in accordance with the law; where a crime is constituted, criminal liability shall be pursued in accordance with the law.

Article 42 — The census offices shall set up reporting telephone numbers and mailboxes to accept public reports and supervision of illegal acts in the agricultural census. Entities and individuals that render meritorious service in reporting shall be rewarded in accordance with relevant state provisions.

Chapter VII — Supplementary Provisions

Article 43 — Where subdistrict offices and residents’ committees are involved in agricultural production and operation activities, the provisions of these Regulations on the people’s governments of townships and towns and villagers’ committees shall apply by analogy.

Article 44 — These Regulations shall come into force as of May 1, 2026.