Beijing says Guangdong government broke law by publishing PMI economic figures for seven years
- As trade war bites, National Bureau of Statistics bans provincial purchasing managers’ index, saying local authorities did not have approval to publish it
- Monthly gauge had been in existence for seven years and was regarded by analysts as an important indicator of economic conditions in export hub
Authorities in China’s export hub, Guangdong, were ordered to stop producing a monthly economic index because they were breaking the law by doing so, the central government said on Tuesday.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a statement on its website that the provincial purchasing managers’ index was produced without its permission and therefore broke China’s statistics law.
The bureau received reports from “unidentified sources at the end of October that Guangdong is releasing the purchasing managers’ index (PMI) without approval” and ordered it to cease, it said.
“From a legal point of view, the purchasing managers’ survey conducted by the Guangdong Department of Industry and Information Technology was an illegal activity and we’ve demanded that the Guangdong statistics authority resolve the matter in accordance with relevant laws and regulations.”
The move came as a surprise to many industry watchers and analysts as authorities in the province had been producing the monthly gauge since 2011. The most recent figures, for September activity, were published at the start of October.
The NBS said that while the statistics authority in Guangdong had initially been granted approval to publish the data, that permission had expired. It did not give an expiration date.