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title: "From 2015 "Since Chinese law forbids local governments from borrowing…"
date: 2019-09-27
source: facebook
type: Archer T. Ships shared a link.
---

# From 2015 "Since Chinese law forbids local governments from borrowing…

*September 27, 2019 · Facebook*

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[https://web.archive.org/web/20150728114727/https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2015-04-20/chinas-dangerous-debt](https://web.archive.org/web/20150728114727/https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2015-04-20/chinas-dangerous-debt){target="_blank"}
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From 2015\
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\"Since Chinese law forbids local governments from borrowing directly, most transferred land titles to LGFVs, which could take out loans freely. These bodies have been so successful at circumventing Beijing's prohibitions against local government borrowing---on paper, they look just like other SOEs---that nobody, not even the Ministry of Finance, knows how much local governments owe. This ambiguity has made it impossible to estimate China's true government debt, although guesses range anywhere from \$5 trillion to \$7 trillion.\"\
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[https://web.archive.org/web/20150728114727/https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2015-04-20/chinas-dangerous-debt](https://web.archive.org/web/20150728114727/https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2015-04-20/chinas-dangerous-debt){target="_blank"}
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