China's Tax Burden: A Mysterious Lead Sinker

(Beijing) –In much of the world, admiration and envy are common reactions to China's consistently high GDP growth rates.

But closer to home, the Chinese public's admiration of their own economic miracle is shadowed by tax increases that consistently outstrip GDP expansion rates.

Dissatisfaction is building over the fact that the overall tax burden has been climbing year after year in China. Indeed, the tax growth rate exceeded the nation's GDP rise by 50 percent between 1997 and 2011, based on 1997 price levels, according to a Caixin analysis.