Chinese Public Finance Framework: A Critical Analysis

This paper explores the complexities of government financial management in China andexamines the nature of the recent Public Finance Framework reform in that country. Weargue that this Public Finance Framework reform is not just the latest idea in a centrallydominated reform agenda (and a logical and strategic development in the process of social,political and economic transformation) but that it reflects the Central Government’s struggle tofine-tune central-local financial relationships and to grapple with the consequences ofpreviously misplaced delegation of government budgets. In doing so, the paper challengesthe prescriptive research which often pervades policy studies in China....