Introduction to Part II The Management of Central Finances

What has gone wrong with the management of central finances? The legacy of the planned economy, decentralization of financial power, government interference, and an imperfect legal system pose great challenges to the central macro-control of financial resources in China. The urgency to strengthen its financial capacity forces the central government to adopt new measures to regulate financial operations. The four articles included in this section address different problems in the management of central finances. While some problems are administrative matters that directly undermine the central financial capacity and result in financial difficulties in general at all levels of government, other problems are related to management efficiency, which is crucial to the establishment of a well-functioning transfer payment system.