Survey methodology:The survey was conducted by the comprehensive method.Financial companies within the scope of survey reported data on a fact sheet developed by Shanghai Municipal Statistics Bureau and submitted the fact sheet online through the National Bureau of Statistics Reporting System.Moreover,to ensure the completeness and accuracy of the reported information,the person in charge of each reporting company must confirm the fact sheet with seal before it was submitted.

Analysis methodology:To ensure the truthfulness,validity and reliability of the analysis,the survey depended on the verity of the actually reported data,while no projections and estimates had been made.

The survey process:

Setting scientific indicators.From February to June 2015,a task team set up by Shanghai Financial Development Services Center including participants from-government departments,industry regulators,the financial industry and the academia developed a system of indicators.In order to make the indicators more reasonable and reflect the industry realities truthfully,the task team selected sample financial companies from different subsectors and asked them to fill in the fact sheet in a test run.After repeated revision and improvement,the indicators were reported to Shanghai Municipal Statistics Bureau for review and approval.The indicators were aligned with the human resources statistics of MOHRSS and relevant statistics of national financial regulators and Shanghai Municipal Statistics Bureau,but also reflect the characteristics of the financial industry and the financial workforce.In other words,there are common industry indicators and specific indicators which serve international financial practitioners and the market realities very well.So the system of indicators is rather innovative.

Identifying target companies strictly.To ensure that the surveyed companies are complete and valid,the financial regulators,Shanghai Financial Service Office,Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce and the finance bureaus of Shanghai’s districts(and a county)compared and updated the directory of more than 1,300 financial companies in Shanghai produced by the third national economic census in 2013.Then,Shanghai Administration for Industry and Commerce,Shanghai Tax Bureau and Shanghai Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau helped verify the list which was sorted out by the Shanghai Financial Development Service Center.Finally,2,052 companies were identified and included in the survey.On this basis,a database of the financial companies was built which includes business name,organization code,business address,registered address and contact information.Meanwhile,a work mechanism was adopted comprising of:implementation by district-level finance offices;support by regulators;coordination by the Financial Development Service Center;and assistance by professional survey companies and industry associations.This mechanism was expected to mobilize relevant financial companies to participate in training sessions and fill in the fact sheet in good faith.

Analyzing the collected data objectively.To ensure data quality,six training sessions had been organized and 1,442 companies had participated in the training sessions,accounting for 65.7%of the total surveyed companies.In the course of survey,guidance and advisory services were offered intensively for financial companies to report their data and the reporting process was monitored on a real-time basis.Audits were made to discover noncompliance and non-compliant data were rejected or only accepted after a special note was made.In this sense,the reported data were under effective quality control.Data review and correction were made on an on-going basis following special guidelines.Key companies and core indicators were especially inspected by the sampling method,and where errors or misreports were discovered,companies were required to make corrections.At the end of the survey,in order to ensure data validity and reliability,Shanghai Financial Service Office,Shanghai Financial Development Services Center,Shanghai Municipal Statistics Bureau and financial regulators first compared and reviewed the statistical scope and the collected data,and then organized experts to conduct an objective analysis of the data to ensure data accuracy and reliability.