GUANGDONG has stopped publishing a monthly economic indicator that gauges growth momentum in its manufacturing sector after the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said that the local authority in the province has violated the law by surveying and publishing the local purchasing managers’ index (PMI) with an expired license.

In a Q&A published on its website Tuesday, the National Bureau of Statistics said it received complaints at the end of October that Guangdong had been illegally surveying for a monthly index.

“The investigation showed that Guangdong’s Department of Industry and Information Technology failed to renew approval from the statistics bureau after its previous registration expired,” the bureau said.

The survey conducted by the local industry and information technology department in Guangdong Province was once approved, however, authorities didn’t reapply for approval from audit authorities after the survey license expired, the NBS official said.

The bureau said Guangdong was taking corrective measures and if conditions were met, the data release could be resumed again in the future.

Meanwhile, Guangdong’s statistical department has participated in the publication of the PMI without ratification from the NBS, which has violated the law, the official added.

“Local authorities may continue the survey and release the data in due course as long as it is in accordance with the law and ratified by relevant statistical authorities,” said the NBS.

PMI is a monthly published economic indicator for the manufacturing sector. A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below reflects contraction.

The data suspension breaks a near seven-year tradition since Guangdong started the series at the end of 2011.(SD-Xinhua)