An early autumn rendezvous with data has energized Jiaxing, as the China Statistics Open Day arrived on September 20th, themed "Bold '15th Five-Year Plan' — Statistics Begin a New Chapter." In recent days, the National Bureau of Statistics Jiaxing Survey Team and the Jiaxing Municipal Bureau of Statistics jointly hosted the 17th "China Statistics Open Day" series. Online quizzes drew significant public participation, while offline interactive experiences aimed to shorten the distance between the public and statistical work, allowing residents to grasp the power that lies behind the data.
This event has been a yearly tradition since 2010, marking its 17th anniversary. On this day each year, the Jiaxing Survey Team wields its "data key," opening the door to scientific knowledge and showcasing Jiaxing's development vitality while dismantling the public's cognitive barriers to statistics. Today, for many, "statistics" are no longer cold numbers but warm "imprints": they emerge from fragrant orchards, hide within bustling workshops, and are woven into the daily lives of communities. Behind each set of figures lies the upward "growth" pulse of Jiaxing's economy, delivering heartening signals about people's livelihoods.
Learning Through Engagement: Bringing Statistics into Everyday Life
Attentive residents have spotted posters for the China Statistics Open Day at Jiaxing South Railway Station and the Nanhu Lakeside stop of the city tram, offering a direct look at the event's importance. On the afternoon of September 20th, a lively gathering took place in Shantang Village, Guangcheng Town, Pinghu City, hosting Jiaxing's 17th "China Statistics Open Day" event. Through face-to-face explanations, on-site Q&A sessions, and the distribution of educational materials, the event covered topics like the achievements of statistical reform during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the Fourth National Agricultural Census, and the "Survey for the Nation, Service for Jiaxing" initiative, bringing statistical knowledge directly to the public.
This grounded, interactive approach to science communication is a vivid microcosm of this year's activities. From offline experiences to online quizzes, a series of thoughtful, people-focused events have made abstract statistical data feel tangible and relatable. "Teacher, what does an on-site survey of livestock and poultry facilities involve?" This is a crucial task for the 'Fourth National Agricultural Census'! Satellites capture the overall picture, drones focus on the details, and then we verify the information with farm visits. "So, do you ask how many cows are there?" "Great question! The job actually focuses on how many enclosures there are and their locations." These childlike exchanges took place at Jiaxing Dongxing Livestock Co., Ltd. in Xiuzhou District. Recently, the Jiaxing Survey Team organized a "Junior Agricultural Surveyor" career experience camp under the theme "Be a Little Farm Surveyor, Explore Animal Husbandry, and Support the Agricultural Census." More than 40 children, guided by party member volunteers, entered a dairy farm to experience agricultural statistical surveying first-hand and learn about the Fourth National Agricultural Census. The children also tackled animal husbandry data questions in groups, grasping the rigor of data collection through engaging calculations.
Through its "Red Boat National Survey" party-building initiative, the Jiaxing Survey Team also visited Funan Community to deliver agricultural census knowledge classes to children in summer care programs. Lecturers used simple language to transform the census's significance and the core principles in the *Statistics Law* and the *Regulations on the National Agricultural Census* — like "truthful reporting" and "strict confidentiality" — into relatable stories for the children. While public outreach flourishes, team capacity building has been equally intense. From July to October, the Jiaxing Survey Team has invited experts from the Municipal Bureau of Statistics and universities to offer a "booster" series of survey classes. Courses like "Focusing on the Main Line of Service Industry Expansion and Quality Improvement to Empower High-Quality Development," "Uniting for Service Industry Statistics and Upholding the Essence of Data Quality," and "Application Practices of AI Technology in Government Departments" have been keeping the team sharp and energized. With both online and offline efforts, the "Jiaxing Survey" WeChat official account has hosted a "920 Statistics Open Day" online quiz competition since September 17th, attracting a large number of enthusiastic participants. From immersive experiences to engaging lectures, statistical knowledge is entering more people's daily lives in increasingly dynamic forms.
Surveys Go Digital: Taking Stock of Jiaxing's Agriculture, Rural Areas, and Farmers
This year's Statistics Open Day coincides with the start of the Fourth National Agricultural Census. When it comes to this census, many people ask: what exactly is it? In essence, it's a major national survey of national conditions and strength conducted every ten years, and it's a significant undertaking for rural revitalization. A decade has passed since the Third Census in 2016, and in that time, Jiaxing's rural landscape and agricultural production have undergone dramatic transformations. For instance, the core area of the Pinghu Agricultural Economy Development Zone, which was traditional farmland just seven years ago, now hosts nearly 30 tech-based agricultural enterprises, with seedlings sold nationwide and phalaenopsis orchids exported to Japan and South Korea. In the "Big Sanxing" area of Fengqiao Town, Nanhu District, seven villages have moved from selling a single peach crop to cultivating peach products, tourism, and cultural creative industries, welcoming 640,000 visitors in 2025 alone.
So, how is Jiaxing's agriculture actually performing? The "Fourth Agricultural Census" serves as a comprehensive physical check-up for the "three rural" issues. Unlike its three predecessors, this census places greater emphasis on modern survey techniques to enhance its digital and intelligent capabilities. From remote sensing measurement of crops to remote sensing surveys of livestock facilities, Jiaxing surveyors use satellites to obtain high-definition images of fields and barns. AI is employed to identify crop types, automatically delineate plot boundaries, and precisely locate facilities, while centimeter-level HD imagery from drones fills in the blind spots of satellite recognition, providing accurate and authentic agricultural baseline data. Currently, remote sensing verification for wheat and rapeseed across Jiaxing has been completed. Next steps include remote sensing surveys for late rice planting area, crop planting land use, and facility agriculture. To ascertain the spatial distribution and utilization of livestock facilities throughout the city, the Jiaxing Survey Team has recently conducted on-site surveys of these facilities, promoting the "mapping and database management" of livestock operations to provide a scientific basis for industrial planning.
Over the past few days, enumerators from more than 200 villages across the city, armed with smart data collection terminals, have been visiting farms to ask owners about livestock breeds and verify information like the number of floors and facility areas. Cao Lihua, a livestock census veteran from the previous round, noted that today's remote sensing enables precise digital positioning, collecting geographic coordinates for agricultural facilities with an accuracy of up to six decimal places. "In the past, we relied on manual measurement with rulers and pen-and-paper records. Now, with the help of satellites and drones, the precision and efficiency are on a completely different level." According to a Jiaxing Survey Team official, modern agriculture is evolving into a sophisticated, intelligent "industrial factory," and the digital transformation of agricultural censuses is laying out a precise "infrastructure blueprint" for it. Looking ahead, the team will work to improve the "sky-ground integrated" agricultural survey and monitoring network, ensuring every field and every farm has precise coordinates in the "cloud."
Reading the '14th Five-Year Plan' Era: Jiaxing's Story of Progress
The 17th "China Statistics Open Day" series not only highlights the close interaction between statistical surveys and the public but also, through a series of rising figures, bears witness to the robust dynamism of Jiaxing's economy and the warmth of its people's lives. When we turn our attention to Jiaxing's accomplishments during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, data becomes the most compelling storyteller. During this period, Jiaxing's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) climbed past the 600 billion and 700 billion yuan milestones, reaching 785.106 billion yuan in 2025, an increase of 214.523 billion yuan compared to 2020. GDP is a powerful measure of a city's economic pulse and a macro-level reflection of people's well-being.
Out in the fields, harvests are recorded. From spring to winter, from vegetable greenhouses to orchard branches, crops like rice, wheat, and corn flourish. Agricultural surveyors traverse the farmlands, verifying planting areas and yields, ensuring that the visual abundance of the harvest is translated into accurate data that supports rural revitalization and the formulation of beneficial agricultural policies. Thanks to Jiaxing's sustained implementation of various policies to strengthen and benefit agriculture, along with its deep execution of strategies like "storing grain in the land and technology," the city achieved a grain planting area of 2.3904 million mu in 2025, a 5.9% increase from 2020. Total grain output reached 1.0361 million tons, up 6.2% from 2020. For 20 consecutive years, both the annual grain planting area and total output have ranked first in the province. Behind these substantial figures lies the confidence of Jiaxing's steady agricultural development.
Within the city's neighborhoods, livelihoods are monitored. On the front lines of labor force and household surveys, enumerators engage residents in casual conversation while meticulously recording employment status and household income and expenditure. From changes in clothing styles to improvements in living environments and increasingly diverse modes of transportation, the lives of Jiaxing's people are undergoing visible transformations. The data serves as the best witness. In 2025, the per capita disposable income of urban residents in Jiaxing reached 81,547 yuan, with an average annual growth of 4.9% over the five-year period. The per capita disposable income of rural residents reached 54,939 yuan, growing at an average annual rate of 6.7%. Per capita living consumption expenditure for urban residents hit 52,833 yuan in 2025, a 7.7% average annual increase, while the figure for rural residents was 39,253 yuan, growing at an average annual rate of 9.9%.
Across the marketplace, development is evident. Jiaxing's consumer market today is characterized by a wide array of goods and stable prices; factory workshops are abuzz with activity, producing high-quality industrial goods. Between 2021 and 2025, the city's overall price levels remained stable, with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) cumulatively rising 4.4% over the period, averaging an annual increase of 0.9%. This price stability ensures that every yuan spent by residents is spent with confidence. Looking toward the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, Jiaxing will continue to strive forward on the path of high-quality development. The Jiaxing Survey Team is also committed to supporting the city's economy with high-quality surveys, diligently safeguarding the well-being of every household.
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