Exclusive: China Expands Support to Resolve Off-the-Books Liabilities For Local Governments

China will help more local authorities restructure their off-the-books liabilities, as part of plans to expand measures aimed at curbing risks in local governments’ hidden debts to cover all provincial-level regions on the mainland, multiple sources with knowledge of the matter told Caixin.

The measures include extending the maturity of debts raised by local government financing vehicles (LGFVs) or swapping them to bank loans, the sources said. They are part of a policy package to resolve local authorities’ hidden borrowings, and have already been rolled out last year in 12 provincial-level regions under especially heavy debt burdens, such as Tianjin municipality and Guizhou province, they said.