CBRC Chairman: Local Government Debt Levels Stable

(Beijing) – China's local government debt is at manageable levels, said Liu Mingkang, chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission.  

Local government debt totaled 10.7 trillion yuan by the end of 2010, accounting for 26.9 percent of the gross domestic product for the year, Liu told a forum in Beijing on October 19, citing figures from the National Audit Office.

After factoring in the issuance of central bank and policy bank bonds, total financing of China's public sector made up 50 percent of GDP, still below the 60 percent warning line and also far below the debt levels of cash-strapped European countries and the U.S., said Liu.