Feb. 1, 2012
Translated by Zhu Na

China National Radio (CNR) reported yesterday that the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and China Federation of Logistics and Procurement (CFLP) have announced a joint plan to improve the country's official Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), a data set which is normally used to gauge manufacturing activity.

According to NBS spokesman Sheng Laiyun (盛來運), many sections of society have called for the release of more detailed PMI data. In response the Service Survey Center of the NBS and the CFLP have agreed to work together to further strengthen and improve both the collection and publishing of PMI data.

In addition, the NBS will require enterprises across the country to report their data directly through internet, greatly increasing the amount of data that is taken into account when calculating the PMI. The new data submitted online will also be more detailed.

Vice president of CFLP Cai Jin (蔡進) explained how, with the change in approach, there will more types of data collected, which will provide numbers that offer better representations of what is happening in particular industries.

For example, in the past, the PMI for non-manufacturing industries did not provide detailed data on the banking or financial industry. Similarly, there was no specific figures for the animation industry and other specialized areas. In the future a PMI figures for these industries will gradually be introduced.

Mr. Cai revealed that they are in the process of contacting banks in relation to data collection, but as the process of negotiating the details of how and what information will be collected, the PMI figures that were released today (the figure rose to 50.5 from 50.3 in December, beating market expectations) have not been effected by the proposed changes.

Still, Mr. Cai predicts what within the next year, we'll be sure to witness changes in the data.

According to Meng Qingxin (孟慶欣), director of the NBS's Service Survey Center, the sample size from which the PMI data is calculated will also be increased substantially.

In the past, data was collected from 820 sources, in the future this will be expanded to 3,000. Similarly, the sample base from which the non-manufacturing PMI is calculated will be expanded from the current 1,200 to 8,000 sources.

Links and Sources
CNR: 中國將優化PMI指數 逐步公布更細化之PMI分項指數
China Real Time: China’s Stats Bureau in Odd Ownership Spat Over Important Index
EO: 1月中國制造業PMI為50.5% 連續兩月小幅回升
Reuters: China PMI tops forecast, hard landing fears ease