# Fiscal Reform
Latest news and articles about Fiscal Reform
Total: 4 articles found
The Rise of the Holding Tax: China’s Property Levy Overtakes Transaction Revenues Amidst Housing Slump
China’s commercial property tax has become the largest source of local tax revenue, surpassing transaction-based levies for the first time in 2025. This structural shift reflects a fiscal pivot toward taxing property holdings rather than market transfers as the broader real estate market continues to struggle.
The End of an Era: China’s Local Governments Face Reckoning as Land Revenues Plunge 24%
China’s local government land sale revenues dropped 24.4% in Q1 2026, continuing a downward trend that has seen the market halve since its 2021 peak. This fiscal crisis is forcing a systemic shift toward 'asset-based finance' and increased profit transfers from state-owned enterprises to sustain local budgets.
China’s Trillion-Dollar 'Sleeping' Fund: Why a Housing Safety Net is Falling Dormant
Data from 33 major Chinese cities shows that over 6 trillion RMB is sitting idle in the Housing Provident Fund due to a cooling property market and low consumer confidence. Policymakers are now scrambling to reform the system by expanding coverage to gig workers and increasing fund flexibility to prevent the scheme from becoming an obsolete pool of stagnant capital.
Beijing’s Zero-Based Revolution: Central Departments Open the Books for the 15th Five-Year Plan
China's central departments have begun releasing their 2026 budgets, marking the start of the 15th Five-Year Plan with a focus on zero-based budgeting and austerity. The Ministry of Finance is leading the push for increased transparency and performance-based spending to navigate a period of fiscal pressure.