The government of Dushan, which oversees a mountainous area with a total population of 360,000, has accumulated 40 billion yuan (US$5.7 billion) of debt, or around 40 times of its annual fiscal revenues. Photo: Handout The government of Dushan, which oversees a mountainous area with a total population of 360,000, has accumulated 40 billion yuan (US$5.7 billion) of debt, or around 40 times of its annual fiscal revenues. Photo: Handout
The government of Dushan, which oversees a mountainous area with a total population of 360,000, has accumulated 40 billion yuan (US$5.7 billion) of debt, or around 40 times of its annual fiscal revenues. Photo: Handout
Zhou Xin
Opinion

Opinion

Zhou Xin

Does one county’s debt woes highlight the potential pitfalls buried under the surface of China’s economic prosperity?

  • Dushan county in Guizhou province has accumulated 40 billion yuan (US$5.7 billion) of debt, or around 40 times of its annual fiscal revenues
  • The local government of Dushan is in technical bankruptcy, but is unlikely to follow the US city of Detroit as it enjoys an implied unlimited credit guarantee

Zhou Xin
Zhou Xin

Updated: 5:19am, 28 Jul, 2020

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The government of Dushan, which oversees a mountainous area with a total population of 360,000, has accumulated 40 billion yuan (US$5.7 billion) of debt, or around 40 times of its annual fiscal revenues. Photo: Handout The government of Dushan, which oversees a mountainous area with a total population of 360,000, has accumulated 40 billion yuan (US$5.7 billion) of debt, or around 40 times of its annual fiscal revenues. Photo: Handout
The government of Dushan, which oversees a mountainous area with a total population of 360,000, has accumulated 40 billion yuan (US$5.7 billion) of debt, or around 40 times of its annual fiscal revenues. Photo: Handout
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Zhou Xin

Zhou Xin

Zhou Xin co-leads the political economy team at the Post. He mainly covers economic stories but also writes about Chinese politics and diplomacy. He has previously worked for Reuters and Bloomberg in Beijing.