China’s Advisor: Beijing should keep debt levels sustainable

Zhang Ming, a senior fellow of the Institute of Finance and Banking at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said on Wednesday, “China should maintain rapid economic growth to absorb its growing debt, and avoid a quick rise in domestic interest rates to keep “the current high level of debt sustainable and avoid systemic financial risks.

Key quotes (via Reuters)

“China's macro leverage ratio, meaning overall debt-to-GDP ratio could be as high as 303.8% by end-2021 if local government implicit debts and debts raised by their financing vehicles re included.”

“At present, local governments bear the highest default risk and their debt-to-GDP ratio is as high as 106.6%.”

Related reads

• The Caixin China Manufacturing PMI: Shrinks less sharply
• China admits it conducted military exercises near Taiwan this week – Reuters