China's cash-strapped local governments looking to boost funds

Beijing

CHINA'S cash-strapped local authorities are scrambling for ways to rebuild their fiscal firepower as a tax overhaul has seen them lose out to the central government and efforts to clear unsold apartments prompt many to restrict land sales for new development.

Proposals include turning over pension commitments to Beijing, redistributing sales-tax revenue from the central government to local coffers, or allowing provinces to start applying new levies on housing, according to proposals by former officials and tax experts in Beijing. The Ministry of Finance is in the midst of an overhaul of the nation's tax system.