The Debt Magnitude and Insolvency Risk of Local Financing Platforms in China

Policy makers and researchers have been debating the financial health of Chinese local government debt after the global financial crisis. However, the lack of transparency makes it difficult to full evaluate the risk of local debt in China. The paper uses the data of local financing platform to estimate the magnitude of the local debt and lays out several policy implications for Chinese governments.

Keywords: Local Public Finance, Local Financing Platform, Debt Magnitude, China, Local Government