Government-by-Government Assessments: China, People’s Republic of

During the review period, the government made its enacted budget and end-of-year report publicly available, including online, but it did not publish an executive budget proposal before enacting the budget.  Information on debt obligations was publicly available but was not always complete or updated.  Budget documents did not identify financial allocations to or earnings from state-owned enterprises.  Not all major state-owned enterprises had publicly available, audited financial statements and they did not disclose their debt holdings.  The supreme audit institution did not meet international standards of independence but reviewed the government’s accounts and made audit reports publicly available within a reasonable period.  The government specified in law or regulation and appeared to follow in practice the criteria and procedures for awarding natural resource extraction contracts and licenses.  Basic information on natural resource extraction awards was publicly available.  The sovereign wealth fund had a sound legal framework and disclosed its sources of funding, but not its general approach to withdrawals.

The People’s Republic of China’s fiscal transparency would be improved by:

• Making its executive budget proposal widely and easily accessible to the public within a reasonable period;
• Publishing complete information on debt obligations, including online;
• Including in budget documents allocations to, earnings from, and debt information of major state-owned enterprises;
• Publishing audit reports for major state-owned enterprises;
• Ensuring the supreme audit institution meets international standards of independence; and
• Disclosing the sovereign wealth fund’s general approach to withdrawals.