In Depth: The Growing Difficulty of Balancing China’s Local Government Budgets

In 2021, the coal-rich northern province of Shaanxi raked in more revenue and spent less than its government had projected.

In its general public budget, the province’s revenue of 277.5 billion yuan ($43.9 billion) in 2021 was 17.1% higher than planned, while its 606.9 billion yuan in spending was lower than the projected by 4.6%.

Like Shaanxi, many other provincial-level regions saw their general public budget revenue beat expectations last year. Total revenue in local general public budgets on the Chinese mainland, excluding funds transferred from the central government, reached 11.1 trillion yuan in 2021, higher than the projected 10.8 trillion yuan and representing 10.9% year-on-year growth.