Local Government Debt in China: Development in Seven Decades, Current Situation, and Reform Suggestions

Since 1949, local government debt in China has gone through the stages from scratch, then banned, and reintroduced, and then to the scale expansion, market construction and improvement under the system construction. In the past 70 years, although there have been twists and turns in its development, local government debt has undergone a “perfect transformation”. Based on a comprehensive review of the development of local government debt in China from 1949 to 2019, this paper refi nes its evolution logic, forecasts its development trend, and puts forward relevant policy recommendations for the future management and risk control of local government debt in China.