Sales of mooncakes in Guangdong province have plummeted after the country's top anti-graft body banned the use of public funds to purchase the Mid-Autumn Festival delicacy.

Sales in Wuchuan, a major production center for the cakes, are running at 50 percent of last year's levels, according to the Wuchuan Association of Mooncakes.

Guangdong is famous for the production of Cantonese-style mooncakes. In previous years these have accounted for half of all mooncakes sold nationally and a large proportion of those exported.