An outspoken finance minister retires

Business & Technology

Former finance chief Lou Jiwei “came to office in 2013 promising to change the system and restructure local government debt. He failed on both counts: local government spending as a share of the total has risen from about 65 percent in 2001 to about 85 percent in 2015, transfers from the center have widened, and local governments’ borrowing has increased.”

Sky Canaves
Credit: SHANGHAI, CHINA - FEBRUARY 27: (CHINA OUT) China's Finance Minister Lou Jiwei attends a press conference during the first G20 Finance Ministers And Central Bank Governors Meeting at the headquarters of the People's Bank of China on February 27, 2016 in Shanghai, China. The meeting will be held on February 26-27 in Shanghai. (Photo by ChinaFotoPress/ChinaFotoPress via Getty Images)

Sky Canaves previously reported for The Wall Street Journal in Beijing and Hong Kong, where she covered media, culture, social issues, and legal affairs, and served as the founding editor and lead writer of the WSJ’s China Real Time site. Prior to becoming a journalist, Sky worked in the China corporate law practice of Baker & McKenzie, and she has also taught journalism and media law at the University of Hong Kong. She speaks Mandarin and has accumulated more than a decade’s experience living, studying and working in China. Read more

Twitter
Facebook

Suggested for you

Business & Technology

Africa’s debt isn’t mostly to China and many Beijing-financed projects are for clean energy

Anzetse Were
Society & Culture

China’s local governments are struggling to pay their bills

Yi Liu

Hozon Auto: high electric vehicle sales but few customers

Barry van Wyk

China offers carrot and sticks in debt deals with Ecuador and other countries

Nadya Yeh

The financial news that really matters: The local government cash crunch holding back China

Dexter Tiff Roberts

China’s ‘three red lines’ policy to safeguard the property sector isn’t working yet

Dorothy Chan