Local Government Debt and Reform of Public Sector Financing in China

Date: Thursday 27 October 2011 Time: 12 noon

Location: 18 Kelburn Parade Room 204, Kelburn Campus, Victoria University

Speaker: Dr Dongfang Wang, China Centre Visiting Fellow, Ph.D China University of Political Science and Law, China

Recent debt issues of local governments in China gained significant attention among scholars and within the policy circles. The problem of financial difficulties of local governments has been debated among academics and the government has implemented significant reforms of public sector financing in the past 10 years in search of more balanced institutional arrangements for public sector financing between different levels of local government: province, city and county. This seminar looks at these reforms: their background, rationale and implementation. The seminar will examine the effectiveness of these reform measures within the broad context of the reform of the public sector in China and how these new arrangements will shape the system of public sector financing.

About the speaker

Dr Dongfang Wang graduated with a Ph.D in Public Administration from Renmin University of China. She is currently a lecturer at the Political Science and Public Management, China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL). She is also the Deputy Director of Risk Management Research Center at the School of Political Science and Public Administration and the Union Chairman and Chairman of the Faculty Representatives Committee at CUPL.