Dithering local officials in China stall stimulus push

Hong Kong

LOCAL officials in China are dithering over project approvals and business deals, some to avoid the spotlight of an anti-corruption campaign, impeding Beijing's plans to use infrastructure spending to arrest slowing economic growth.

Though the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) approved 1.9 trillion yuan (S$424 billion) of investment projects in the first 10 months of 2015, the country's top auditor estimates US$45 billion of projects are behind schedule, including a railway line in Yunnan delayed five years by official sloth.

Provincial and city officials were once in the van…