China County Govt Can’t Pay Social Services as Land Sales Plunge: Observer

A Chinese local government faces difficulties paying basic social services as revenues from land sales plunged following this year's curbs on housing markets, the Economic Observer reported citing an interview with an unidentified local official. The county faces as much as CNY2 billion deficit as sales of land fell by more than half from last year, the newspaper reported citing the official. The county may have difficulty paying wages this month as the authorities scramble to borrow money from other sources, including using special-purpose bonds, the official was cited as saying. While the newspaper didn't say if other regions face similar difficulties, it cited a Moody's report saying that revenue from land sales accounted for 29.2% of total local government incomes in 2020. Local governments will increasingly rely on raising debt to pay their expenditures, the newspaper said.