# Ministry of Finance
Latest news and articles about Ministry of Finance
Total: 15 articles found
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 Fiscal Recovery Stumbles Forward as Industrial Stabilisation Drives Modest Tax Gains
China reported a 2.2% increase in Q1 tax revenue, totaling 4.85 trillion yuan, led by a 4.9% rise in VAT. The figures suggest a stabilization in industrial activity but highlight a slow overall fiscal recovery compared to broader economic targets.
A Rare Cooling for China's Lottery Fever as March Sales Slump
China's lottery sales fell 6.6% in March 2026, driven by a slump in sports betting and a broader decline in welfare lottery purchases. The figures suggest a cooling of the massive lottery trend that has characterized Chinese consumer behavior during the recent economic transition.
China’s State Giants Face Profit Squeeze as Economic Recovery Stutters
Data from China's Ministry of Finance shows state-owned enterprise profits fell 2% in the first two months of 2026, despite a flat revenue growth of 0.2%. The sector also saw a rise in debt-to-asset ratios, signaling increased financial pressure on the backbone of the Chinese economy.
Beijing’s Fiscal Pivot: Centralizing Debt to Rescue Local Coffers and Revive Demand
China will issue 1.3 trillion yuan in ultra-long special treasury bonds in 2026, with over 80% of the funds directed to local governments to relieve fiscal pressure and optimize the national debt structure. The funds are primarily targeted at strategic infrastructure, industrial upgrades, and a new fiscal-financial coordination mechanism intended to stimulate domestic demand.
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.
China Keeps the Fiscal Foot on the Gas for 2026: More Bonds, Bigger Transfers and a Push for Consumption and Tech
The Chinese Ministry of Finance has vowed to continue an active, expansionary fiscal stance in 2026, combining large bond‑funded investment, targeted consumption support and increased transfers with stronger debt governance and fiscal reforms. The policy mix aims to stabilise growth while prioritising technology, green transition and social spending, though implementation and local debt management remain the principal risks.
China Advances Local Bond Quotas: Guangdong Leads as Provinces Ready 2.4 Trillion Yuan for Early Issuance
Nineteen Chinese provinces have revealed advance allocations of next year’s local government borrowing limits totalling about 2.4 trillion yuan, with Guangdong receiving the largest share. The advance quotas — dominated by special-purpose bonds and often re-lent by provinces to cities and counties — are meant to speed infrastructure financing and stabilise investment, but they raise questions about transparency and contingent debt risks.
China’s Provinces Reveal Scale of New Childcare Subsidies as Beijing Eyes Wider Rollout
Fourteen Chinese provinces reported roughly ¥45.9 billion in 2025 allocations for a new childcare subsidy that pays ¥3,600 per child annually for children under three. Beijing says about ¥100 billion will be spent nationally in 2025 and that more than 30 million infants have received payments; however, regional disparities and implementation challenges leave the policy’s demographic impact uncertain.
China’s Local Governments Rapidly Tap Bond Markets to Fund Projects and Refinance Hidden Debt
Chinese local governments have issued more than RMB 2 trillion in bonds by late February as Beijing leans on fiscal tools to spur infrastructure and social projects and to replace implicit local liabilities. About half of the issuance is refinancing aimed at swapping hidden debt into formal bonds, while new special‑purpose bonds are being prioritised for on‑the‑ground investment.
China Tightens VAT Rules: New Guidance Clarifies Input Deductions, Long‑term Assets and Prepayment Obligations
China has issued three implementing measures to clarify how businesses deduct input VAT, treat high‑value long‑term assets and manage VAT prepayments, along with transitional filing changes. The rules reduce legal ambiguity but require firms to adjust accounting systems and cash‑flow planning, with construction, real estate and oil & gas particularly affected.
China’s Treasury Benefits from Market Turnover as Stamp Tax Surges 57.8% in 2025
China’s Treasury recorded a 57.8% jump in securities transaction stamp tax to 2,035 billion yuan in 2025, reflecting stronger market turnover, while overall general public budget revenue fell 1.7% to 21.6 trillion yuan. Tax receipts rose only modestly and non‑tax income declined due to a 2024 one‑off, even as childcare subsidies have reached more than 30 million infants and remaining payments are to be completed by March 2026.