Company closure figures disputed

SHENZHEN: Official figures show that only a little more 7,000 companies in Guangdong province closed down or moved out in the first nine months of this year, and not 50,000 as reported in the media.

"Statistics compiled by the administration for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) of Guangdong, show a total of 7,148 companies closed or moved out from January to September," Liu Huanquan, director of Guangdong SMEs bureau, said.

The Guangzhou-based Information Times reported last Tuesday that more than 50,000 companies in Guangdong closed down, quoting figures from the provincial bureau of statistics.