Urban Infrastructure Financing in Reform-era China

Abstract

Urban infrastructure has been substantially upgraded in reform-era China. This paper explains, contextually and empirically, how Chinese cities finance their infrastructure. It demonstrates that China has succeeded in addressing urban infrastructure backlogs by opening up new venues for financing, but simultaneously, heavily relying on unconventional sources. The paper also argues that urban infrastructure financing has much to do with the country’s transition to a market-oriented economy that fosters the pro-growth role of city governments as well as the redistribution of fiscal power between the levels of the urban hierarchy that produces significant variation of financial capacities among the different administrative ranks of cities.