Xinhua published an article stating that, for the first time, when Li Keqiang, Premier of the State Council, delivered the “Report on the Work of the Government,” the information included the financial deficits of local governments. The article said that, in the past, local deficits were consolidated and published at the central government level. According to the article, from the 2014 financial reports that a number of local governments released, the growth rate of the fiscal revenue in Beijing, Zhejiang, and Inner-Mongolia has dropped below 10 percent. Meanwhile, for the first time, the new budget act launched on January 1, 2015, has allowed the local governments to issue their own municipal bonds. According to the article, “The new budget act provided legal protection for local government debt management. … It will help to ensure the flow of the funding chain while easing the pressure of local debts.”
Source: Xinhua, March 8, 2015
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2015lh/2015-03/08/c_1114561978.htm