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A Beijing procurator confirmed on Monday that five people are under judicial investigation for leaking key economic data before its official release.

Zhang Huawei, a director from the Beijing People's Procuratorate, told media that the five people, including a staff member responsible for secretarial work at the National Bureau of Statistics' (NBS) administrative office, are under investigation.

Previously some media reported that several officials with the central bank and the NBS were taken for investigation for suspected data leaking after accurate predictions of macroeconomic data released by economists and financial institutions had raised concerns.

Recently, several financial institutions and media organizations released economic estimates that exactly or closely matched official figures.

Notably, over the past two years Reuters news agency released seven correct monthly consumer price index (CPI) estimates before the data was officially released.

On June 8, Reuters predicted that China's consumer price index for May would be up 5.4 percent on the same period last year. The official figure, released on June 14, was 5.5 percent.

According to a report by the First Financial Daily, although Reuters responded that they predicted the May index based on their own research, they did mention inside sources when giving previous accurate predictions.

Other organizations, including Bloomberg News, and several market analysts correctly predicted the May CPI.

Key government economic data, including the consumer price index and gross domestic product (GDP), are highly market-sensitive and viewed as State secrets before the information is officially announced.

Questions:

1. How many people are under investigation?

2. What does NBS stand for?

3. What news agency has released seven correct CPI estimates?

Answers:

1. Five.

2. National Bureau of Statistics.

3. Reuters.

（中国日报网英语点津 Helen 编辑）

About the broadcaster:

Lee Hannon is Chief Editor at China Daily with 15-years experience in print and broadcast journalism. Born in England, Lee has traveled extensively around the world as a journalist including four years as a senior editor in Los Angeles. He now lives in Beijing and is happy to move to China and join the China Daily team.