China export hub suspends PMI data release under government pressure
State deems publication of the data 'illegal'
Chinese export hub Guangdong has stopped publishing a monthly economic indicator that gauges growth momentum in its massive manufacturing sector after central authorities claimed local surveying and publication of the data to be “illegal”. The southern province of Guangdong, famed for its vibrant tech scene and vast factory base as one of the first beneficiaries of China’s opening policy, has been particularly vulnerable to China’s trade war with the US as billions in US tariffs hit Chinese exports. Its manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI), published monthly by the Guangdong department of industry and information technology, had been treading lower than the official index for five straight months until the data series stopped updating in October. In a bearish sign for the industry, the value of export orders to the US signed in November at China’s largest trade fair in Guangdong’s provincial capital Guangzhou dropped 30.3% on the year. The abrupt data suspension breaks a n...
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