Ma Jiantang, head of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), on Friday warned local authorities that they should not interfere with the reporting of data from enterprises.

Local governments should ensure that enterprises are reporting economic data to statistical authorities authentically and independently, Ma said in a statement on the NBS website, in response to recent media reports of irregularities and manipulation of data reporting at local level.

In a move to avoid falsified data and obtain first-hand information, China in February this year started to collect data directly from about 700,000 companies nationwide through the Internet.

Previously, company data would go through as many as four government levels before reaching the National Data Center or authorized provincial data centers.

Some local governments are still interfering with operation of the new system overtly or covertly, said Ma, commenting on a 21st Century Business Herald story that exposed such conduct in several regional governments, including ones in southeast Fujian and northwest Xinjiang.

The NBS has put the article on its website as a warning for local authorities and urged rectification to make sure that enterprises hand in genuine data, according to organization's head.