Most countries, developed and developing, are fiscally decentralized with regional and local governments of varying importance. In many of these countries, some of these sub-national governments differ substantially from others in terms of wealth, ethnic, religious, or linguistic composition....

China has made crucial progress in the field of public expenditure management in the past ten years. This article reviews the reforms in budget formulation, approval, implementation and audit. Some weaknesses remain: for example, important decisions are still made outside of the budget process;...

China introduced the largest stimulus package in the world in late 2008, in the wake of the global financial crisis. China was also the first major economy in the world to emerge from the crisis. After a brief though sharp downturn in 2008, the Chinese economy recovered and grew by 8.7% in 2009...

"The Government of China has placed strong emphasis on addressing problems related to agriculture, farmers, and rural society, with the development of a "new socialist countryside" designated as a top priority for the Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2006-2010). The financing of public services in rural...