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China's government debt risk is "largely controllable" and authorities have rolled out new measures to strengthen local government debt management, Zhang Shaochun, Deputy Finance Minister, said on Friday.
Zhang made the remarks while delivering a State Council report on the final accounts for 2016 to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) during its bi-monthly session.
"Fresh steps have been taken to better manage China's local government debt, with strengthened supervision efforts on local financing platforms and the establishment of cross-department surveillance and risk prevention schemes," Zhang said.
By the end of last year, combined debt of central and local governments in China stood at 27.3 trillion yuan (about 4 trillion US dollars), with a debt-to-GDP ratio at around 36.7 percent, official data showed.
The US recorded a government debt equivalent to 106.10 percent of the country's GDP in 2016.
The central government was improving the information disclosure of local government financing activities and continued to hold officials accountable for illegal financing activities, he added.
Public-private partnerships will also be carried out in a more standardized manner, he stressed.
Chinese financial regulators are increasing financial risk control and deleveraging, as solid economic growth in the first quarter provided more room for such adjustments, conducive to long-term growth.
Central government departments in 2016 spent 4.83 billion yuan on the "three public consumptions," namely overseas trips, vehicles and receptions, down 10.2 percent from 2015, Zhang said.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
