BEIJING — China’s top statistical regulator will step up efforts to prevent and punish data falsification and other fraudulent practices, in an effort to ensure data authenticity.

A supervision campaign on statistical work will be launched this year, the first time in history, to promote fulfillment of duties, punish illegal practices and improve statistics quality, said Ning Jizhe, head of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The NBS will enhance inspection and law enforcement, expand exposure of wrong-doers and hold them accountable, Ning told a national meeting on statistical work.

The country exposed 27 illegal statistical cases, disclosed information and imposed punishments on 118 firms found guilty of serious data doctoring, according to Ning.

China introduced an updated detailed guideline for implementing statistics laws in 2017 to prevent data fraud.