Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Macroeconomics
(BBA233)
Fiscal Policy and its Impact on the Economy,
Employment & Inflation of China
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TABLE OF CONTENT
Economy?
8. Conclusion 30
9. References 31-32
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FISCAL POLICY
Fiscal policy influences the economy by using government spending and taxes. When the
government decides what goods and services to buy, what transfer payments to distribute, or
what taxes to collect, it is engaged in fiscal policy. Specific groups feel the direct economic
impact of any change in government budgets – such as a tax cut for families with children that
would increase their disposable income. However, fiscal policy discussions often focus on the
changes in taxes or spending can be interpreted as fiscal policy - and can affect the overall level
of output by changing the incentives that firms or individuals face - the term “revenue neutral”
policy budgeting is generally used to describe the impact on the aggregate economy of levels
of aggregate spending and taxes, and more specifically, the gap between them.
The fiscal policy restricts or restricts when revenues exceed expenditures (i.e. the government
budget is in surplus) and flexible or expands when expenditures exceed revenues (i.e. the
budget is in deficit). Often, the focus is not on the extent of the deficit but the course of the
deficit. Thus, reducing the deficit from $200 billion to $100 billion is considered restrictive
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Fiscal policy is an essential tool for managing the economy because it can affect total
production, i.e. gross domestic product. The first effect of fiscal expansion is to increase
demand for goods and services. This increased demand leads to an increase in both output and
price. The degree to which an increase in demand increases output and prices depends on the
state of the business cycle. If the economy is in recession, with production capacity unused and
workers unemployed, an increase in demand will mainly lead to an increase in output without
changing the price level. If the economy is at full employment, then the fiscal expansion will
Fiscal policy’s ability to affect production by affecting aggregate demand makes it a potential
tool for economic stabilisation. During a recession, the government may pursue expansionary
fiscal policy, bringing output back to average and putting the unemployed back to work. During
boom times, when inflation is seen as a bigger problem than unemployment, the government
can run a budget surplus, which helps slow down the economy. Such an opposite policy would
• Full Employment: One of the government’s main goals is to keep and put people to
work. Governments benefit from higher taxes and lower spending on social security.
An expansionary policy might seek to invest in infrastructure that directly creates jobs.
Alternatively, it could cut taxes to indirectly boost jobs from their purchases to give
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• Economic Growth: As a financial system grows, its citizens, on the whole, turn out to
consideration along with stability. For instance, heavy authority spending can make
• Control Debt: Budget deficits are not necessarily bad. However, over time, this created
more and more debt. If economic growth and tax revenues do not increase, a country
will face unsustainable debt levels. A sound fiscal policy would aim to control this
• Control Inflation: When an economy thrives, it can suffer from high inflation (this can
also depend on monetary policy). Since 2% is often the target, any of the above is cause
phenomenon, governments still take measures to prevent it. Fiscal policy cannot do
much if the money supply is already loosened. However, governments try to raise taxes
• Re-Distribution: Another government aims to transfer wealth from the rich to the poor.
Higher taxes on the wealthy can sometimes translate into high tax revenue, but this is
not always the case. Hiding and hiding may occur, or they may leave the country.
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However, small incremental increases may not have such a significant impact in the
short term.
• Political: Fiscal policy has inevitably become a political tool that many incumbent
governments use a bit to get re-elected. Loosening fiscal policy and more lavish
• Size of Fiscal Measures: A budget is not a simple report of government revenues and
receipts. It explains and shapes the economic structure of a country. When budgets
account for only a small part of national income in developing economies, fiscal policy
cannot have the desired effect on economic development. Direct taxation sometimes
covered. Furthermore, tax measures will not boost a faltering economy that requires
massive support when total tax revenue is a smaller fraction of national income.
• Fiscal Policy as Ineffective anti-cyclical measure: Loose fiscal measures and tighter
fiscal policy will not promote rapid economic growth when different sectors of the
economy are not closely integrated. Government measures may not always have the
same effect on all sectors. So we can have, for example, a recession in some sectors
financing, a policy adopted by J.M. Keynes advocated in the 1930s, may not have
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• Administrative Delay: Fiscal measures may introduce delay, uncertainties and
arbitrariness arising from administrative bottlenecks. As a result, the fiscal policy fails
Fiscal policy affects aggregate demand, the distribution of wealth, and the economy’s capacity
to produce goods and services. In the short run, changes in spending or taxing can alter both
the magnitude and the pattern of demand for goods and services. With time, this aggregate
demand affects the allocation of resources and the productive capacity of an economy through
its influence on the returns to factors of production, the development of human capital, the
effects on the net returns to labour, saving, and investment, tax rates also influence the
Macroeconomics has long featured two general views of the economy and the ability of fiscal
policy to stabilise or even affect economic activity. The equilibrium view sees the economy
quickly returning to total capacity whenever disturbances displace it from full employment.
Accordingly, changes in fiscal policy, or even in monetary policy, have little potential for
enacting a fiscal response, and the economy reacting to the change in policy can aggravate,
rather than diminish, business-cycle fluctuations. An alternative view sees critical market
failures causing the economy to adjust with more difficulty to these disturbances. If, for
example, consumers were to reduce their current spending in order to consume more in the
future, producers, who would not know the consumers’ plans for want of the appropriate
futures markets for goods and services, would see only an indefinite drop in demand, and this
might encourage them, in turn, to reduce their hiring and capital spending. In this world, fiscal
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and monetary policy changes have more significant potential for stabilising aggregate demand
and economic activity. How the economy reacts to fiscal policy depends on whether it is at full
The Chinese government has pursued an aggressive fiscal policy to finance key construction
projects by issuing public debt in recent years. Meanwhile, a sound monetary policy has been
implemented in coordination with fiscal policy. Thanks to the combination of the two policies,
the deflationary trend has been contained, economic restructuring has been accelerated, and
economic growth has been promoted. China’s GDP exceeded $12 trillion in 2002, a historic
breakthrough. In recent years, the reform of the tax collection system has helped the
government revenue to grow steadily. Significant progress has also been made in the reform of
China’s GDP exceeded $12 trillion in 2002, a historic breakthrough. In recent years, the reform
of the tax collection system has helped the government revenue to grow steadily. Significant
progress has also been made in the reform of public expenditure management.
Despite the above achievements, there stay demanding situations dealing with China’s
monetary development, specially meditated withinside the slowdown of presidency sales due
to the fact the start of 2002, the pretty excessive percentage of non-acting loans withinside the
monetary sector, weaker call for in rural regions and continual employment pressure. In
addition, uncertainties over the worldwide monetary outlook have impacted China’s exports
and monetary growth. To remedy those problems, the Chinese authorities will retain to enhance
home call through proactive monetary coverage and sound economic coverage and similarly
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accelerate monetary restructuring and enhance the exceptional performance of monetary
growth. Significant trends in the latest monetary and economic guidelines are as follows.
Whatever form it takes, fiscal policy must have a goal, operate through budget revenues and
expenditures, and perform its role within the framework of a specific mechanism. Before China
started to reform and open up, there was fiscal policy, but in a different form from the market
economy. When China was a planned economy, its tax revenues and expenditures were tightly
planned, which made Chinese fiscal policy difficult. This fiscal policy lacks independence and
is not linked to state planning. In other words, tax revenue and expenditure must comply with
the requirements of the state plan. Within the framework of the state planning system, this
fiscal policy serves the purpose of macroeconomic regulation and control. There has long been
a different kind of fiscal policy that corresponds to principles and direction, consistency and
stability, as is often claimed. It is more of a system than a policy, or even a fiscal policy in the
broad sense, which includes one that serves microeconomic goals. However, according to this
standard, almost all budgeting systems and activities are tied to fiscal policy, which will
become practically synonymous with public finance and lose its existential meaning.
Importantly, fiscal policy has been slow to become a specific and unavoidable subject in public
finance research.
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This was the first time China adopted the market-oriented fiscal policy, right after founding the
People’s Republic of China and before establishing the planned economic system. Before
China put the socialist market financial system in place, it would take some time and resume
the market-oriented fiscal policy. Though China stressed the role of the market at both times,
it recognised different ways, extents, objectives, and environmental conditions for the market
After its founding, the People’s Republic of China faced a pretty severe inflation problem.
On the one hand, military expenditures, general administrative expenses, and taking over the
military and educational personnel of the old regime led to enormous fiscal pressure. On the
other hand, raising adequate fiscal revenue required a unified fiscal and economic system, but
most importantly, a unified fiscal system. Therefore, the gap between fiscal revenue and fiscal
expenditure remained.
The market-oriented fiscal policy adopted at this stage was implemented in a highly fragmented
market economy. The fiscal balance continued through 1951 and 1952, which registered a
fiscal revenue of RMB 17.394 billion and a fiscal expenditure of RMB 17.207 billion but found
In addition to tax policy, China managed to amass fiscal resources through price policy,
depreciation policy, and low-wage policy. Macro fiscal policy was integrated with micro fiscal
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policy and state finance with state-owned enterprise finance. Direct regulation of fiscal policy
in the planned economic system built upon the premise that enterprises (mainly public-owned
enterprises) could not finance and manage their business independently. The total balance of
the national economy required not only an overall balance but also balance in four specific
areas, namely fiscal balance, credit balance, material balance, and foreign exchange balance
(added later). For example, the “2-3-4” rule required that of the total national income, 20%
should go to accumulation, 30% to fiscal revenue, and the proportion of capital expenditure to
fiscal expenditure should be 40%.1 Quite aware of the law governing the proportional and
coordinated development of the national economy, China still allowed construction to overtake
the accumulation of fiscal resources in some cases. However, as the “Cultural Revolution”
broke out, plans became the basis, public finance the guarantee, and as a result, the national
economy was severely damaged (Xu, 1980).1 The ultimate goal of fiscal policy in a planned
economic system was to maintain fiscal balance. In the final analysis, such a policy was only
a kind of classical fiscal concept dominated by simple fiscal revenue and expenditure concepts
and viewed fiscal deficit avoidance and the regular operation of public finance as an immediate
objective.
2012):
We mean the transformation from the planned economy to the market economy by economic
transformation. Gradually, central planning could no longer play a fundamental role, and
regulation.
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To transit from the planned economy to the market economy, the government needs to make
adjustments in three aspects in terms of how to manage the economy, namely, replacing
with indirect management, and replacing an annual directive plan with instructional medium-
and long-term plans (Xiang et al., 1993). In other words, a market-oriented fiscal policy was
Meanwhile, China was shifting from a sellers’ economy to a buyers’ economy, which provided
a material basis for implementing expansionary fiscal policy. Although its terminology might
have some Chinese characteristics, the type of fiscal policy was described according to
The further reform of the fiscal and taxation system should aim to develop the current fiscal
policy, which helps realise macroeconomic stability goals and plays an essential role in the
modernisation of the state governance system and the enhancement of state governance
capacity. Fiscal policy faces significant operational pressure, and fiscal risks continue to
increase. In the socialist market economy, the market plays an increasingly decisive role in
resource allocation, and fiscal policy primarily functions within the law of the market. For
fiscal policy in the new era, the supply-side structural reform is a new condition and offers new
options. With the advent of an era of economic globalisation and against the background of
building a community with a shared future for humanity, a country can no longer choose its
fiscal policy solely based on domestic considerations. Choosing the right fiscal policy
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compatible with the open economic system has become a new topic for all countries and
regions.
Fiscal policy is making a substantial contribution to China’s economic growth. China’s forceful
fiscal response was made possible because China had ample fiscal space when the GFC hit.
Kong and Feng (2019) find that China’s fiscal policy is generally countercyclical and achieves
its desired economic effects. For instance, Lam and Wingender (2015) find that improving the
comprehensive value-added tax can promote China’s growth, boost fiscal revenues, and reduce
Some studies have estimated China’s fiscal multipliers. (2010) found that fiscal multipliers for
China are broadly in line with the United States. (2017) estimated that China’s fiscal multiplier
increased from 0.75 in 2001–2008 to 1.4 in 2010–2015, with the most significant impact on
the manufacturing sector. (2016) obtained local government fiscal multipliers of approximately
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0.6, much lower than most previous studies’ estimates. They found that public expenditures,
managed by the local authority and financed by raising taxes on local households and issuing
local government debt, can have New Keynesian effects on output growth.
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Statistics show the effects of the fiscal stimulus package under the fixed exchange rate regime.
In 2009 the increase in Chinese GDP would be equal to 2.6 per cent, and in 2010, to 0.6 per
cent. The increase is driven by private consumption (+3.2 and +1.3 per cent in 2009 and 2010,
respectively), which benefits from higher transfers to households and low real interest rates.
Compared to the baseline scenario, higher Chinese aggregate demand implies higher inflation
and the Chinese real exchange rate appreciation over the two years). We assess the role of the
exchange rate regime on the effects of the fiscal package. We also report results in the case of
Chinese monetary policy following a standard Taylor rule. When the fiscal package is activated
and inflation and GOP increase in China, the monetary authority raises the nominal interest
rate. The GDP increased by 1.8 per cent in 2009 and by 0.7 per cent in 2010. Compared to the
fixed exchange rate regime, the lower expansionary effects on aggregate demand imply a lower
increase in imports in 2009 and 2010, even though the Chinese real exchange rate appreciation
makes imports cheaper than domestic goods through the standard substitution effect.
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Finally, we further evaluate the contribution of expansionary policy by assuming that, given
the fiscal stimulus, the US and China’s annualised policy rates are held constant at the 0.25 per
cent level for eight periods until the end of 2010 instead of six. In this scenario, the increase in
Chinese GDP would be equal to 33 per cent in 2009 and 0.9 per cent in 2010. As current and
expected real interest rates are lower, private investment positively reacts to the stimulus in
2009 (while the retrenchment in 2010 is weaker than when policy rates were held constant for
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IMPACT OF FISCAL POLICY ON INFLATION
Inflation remains one of the most important macroeconomic factors for any country. For any
country, it is essential to control its inflation because the rate of inflation in the economy affects
the prices of goods in the economy and will affect the population in a significant way.
Inflation also decides the cost of production of goods in the country, which makes maintaining
inflation very crucial for China. China is mainly an industrial nation and exports goods to the
world. And most of the goods are either finished or parts, and if the rate of those goods goes
upwards, the economy of the whole world gets affected. It also leads to a fall in China’s exports.
A few decades ago, the inflation rate in China was a roller coaster as the economy of the country
was not stable yet. In 1989 the inflation rate was ~28%, and in 1999 it was ~(-2.2)%.
In the last decade, though, the inflation rate has been stable, not going above 3%. This inflation
range may seem to be good since it is less, and less inflation is good, but it is not always the
case. Rapid growing economies show a high inflation rate, and this low inflation rate in the
But the inflation in China was intentionally kept low by the government to facilitate the
Various fiscal policies by the government were introduced to do so. The government has
knowingly decreased its transfer payments and government expenditure to reduce the fiscal
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The government has also levied high taxes on its citizens and disincentivised holding of money
by incentivising savings, which leads to less holding of money in peoples’ hands, leading to
low demands of goods and services, decreasing the money supply in the economy.
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IMPACT OF FISCAL POLICY ON EMPLOYMENT
The key factors impacting employment in China can be characterised by the following: (i)
developmental stage upgrading from low- to middle- and high-income stages, similar to other
developing countries; (ii) a demographic transition from high to low fertility experienced by
many emerging economies; and (iii) an institutional transition from a planned to a market
economy shared with other former planned economies. During these transition periods, the role
generalise some facts regarding labour market developments by narrating the employment
From 1980 to 2013, the annual growth rate of GDP was 9.7 per cent, while total employment
grew by 1.8 per cent annually, urban employment by 4.0 per cent, and rural employment by
0.6 per cent. More specifically, rural employment has declined since 1997: the share of
agricultural labour in the total employment declined from 68.7 per cent in 1980 to 33.6 per cent
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When population growth at first slowed – particularly as the growth of the working-age
population aged between 15 and 59 – and then after 2010 grew negatively, employment
pressure eased, and the employment rate has grown at a relatively slower rate in recent years.
Thirdly, a higher labour force participation rate and fuller employment were realised primarily
by increasing the labour share of the non-agricultural sectors. China experienced massive
labour migration from the agricultural to the industrial and services sectors, from rural to urban
areas, and from the poorer central and western regions to the wealthier coastal ones, a
history.
First, the targeted economic growth rate is incorporated in the budgeting and allocation
approval process. As a routine, the annual budget determines the appropriate level of budget
deficit given the policy response to the economic cycle, ensures funds are allocated to support
national employment policies, sets up target growth rates for pre-employment public
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For example, in different years, the official macroeconomic policy stance has been “fiscal
policies aiming to promote the adjustment of the national economy” (1979), “tight fiscal
policies” (1988), “moderately tight fiscal policies” (1993), “active fiscal policies” (1998),
“prudent fiscal policies” (2004), and “active fiscal policies” (since 2008) respectively. As for
active fiscal policies, stimulus measures include: issuing national or local bonds on behalf of
projects, relieving or exempting taxes on small, medium, and micro enterprises and start-ups,
and implementing financial discount policies for micro finance and social security funds.
Third, reforms of the taxation system aim to foster and develop targeted sectors and industries
to expand employment. One such reform is the value-added tax reform through a pilot
programme, which will replace the business tax with a value-added tax (or VAT/BT reform)
on transportation and other selected modern services sector. This has created the necessary
policy environment for services sector development, particularly for the current services sector,
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For this reason, the Central Government has gradually extended the VAT/BT reform to a
broader range of sectors and regions. Such progress with tax reform has accelerated the faster
growth of output value and employment generation in the services sector, increasing the share
From 2000 to 2010, the share of the services sector in terms of value-added increased from
39.8 to 44.2 per cent, an average annual increase of 0.44 percentage points. The modern
services sector can roughly be categorised as the following: water management and
and software, financial intermediation, real estate, leasing and business services, scientific
research, technical service and geological prospecting, education, health, social security and
social welfare, culture, sports and entertainment, and public management and social
organisation.
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IMPACT OF FISCAL POLICY ON POVERTY
Large-scale poverty reduction in China has been achieved through rapid economic growth.
Official statistics show that real GDP grew at an average of 9.4% per year from 1979 to 2003,
exceeding 10% in the first half of the 1980s and 1990s. Despite the urban disparity, rural and
regional areas have increased significantly. However, overall economic growth has benefited
the majority of the population, including the poor, and has been a significant driver of poverty
China’s poverty alleviation policies have focused on creating opportunities by creating wealth
for the poor and transferring wealth to the poor, mostly avoiding “handover” altogether. These
include rural reform 1978-1985, national target poverty reduction programs 1986-1993, plan
87 for 1994-2000 and the New Century Rural Poverty Reduction Plan for 2001-2010.
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In the early years of the doi moi period after 1978, the most pressing issue was stimulating
rural economic growth through rural reform. To stimulate the rural economy, the Chinese
procurement prices.
Rural poverty reduction programs launched in the mid-1980s include a variety of actors,
initiatives, and funding channels. The leading group of the State Council on Poverty Alleviation
(LGPR) was established in 1986 to bring unity to many poverty reduction initiatives and
especially to promote economic development in the developing regions. Specific tax incentives
have been applied to poor areas (Office of the Leading Group on Poverty Reduction and
Development, 1989). However, China’s overall progress in poverty reduction has been slower
and even reversed for some years, concurrently with the stagnation of the rural economy.
It aimed at 1) assisting poor households with land improvement, increased cash crop, tree crop
providing most townships with road access and electricity, and improving access to drinking
water for most poor villages, 3) accomplishing universal primary education and basic
preventive and curative health care, 4) graduating better off counties in the coastal provinces
from the newly established list of nationally designated developing countries, 5) managing well
available funding, with attention to the appraisal and financial viability of poverty reduction
investment activities, recovery of loan funds and leakage of poverty reduction funding to
alternative activities, and 6) enlisting involvement and support from all government ministries
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and agencies, the coastal provinces and major municipalities, and other domestic and
international organisations.
Drawing critical lessons from “Plan 8-7”, the Chinese Government launched the New Century
Rural Poverty Reduction Plan from 2001-to 2010. The new plan targets poor villages instead
of poor districts, emphasises human and social development capital in poor localities and
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promotes participatory approaches to poverty alleviation. The new plan emphasises the
development of science and technology, education, culture and health, acknowledging that
disease is already the main driver pushing rural households into poverty.
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SHOULD MONETARY AND FISCAL POLICYMAKERS TRY TO
When left on its own, the economy tends to be volatile. When households and businesses
become pessimistic, they reduce spending, which reduces the overall demand for goods and
services. The decline in aggregate demand, in turn, reduces the production of goods and
services. Companies are laying off workers, and unemployment is rising. Real GDP and other
income measures fell. Rising unemployment and falling incomes are helping to confirm the
Such degradation does not benefit society - it represents a pure waste of resources. Workers
who have lost their jobs due to reduced aggregate demand will work instead. Instead, business
owners whose factories are idle during a recession produce valuable goods and services and
There is no reason for society to suffer the ups and downs of the business cycle. The
economic fluctuations. By “going with the wind” of economic changes, fiscal and monetary
policy can stabilise aggregate demand, output, and employment. When aggregate demand is
not enough to supply full employment, policymakers must increase government spending, cut
taxes, and increase the money supply. When aggregate demand is excessive, which risks
increasing inflation, policymakers must cut government spending, raise taxes, and reduce the
money supply. Such policy actions make the most of macroeconomic theory by leading to a
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The stance of the Communist Party of China or the government of China has always been pr
measures. They have always gone with adopting measures to stabilise the economy. For the
last 70 years, the government has been relying on correcting the force of external problems on
In this report, we have gone into great detail to explore the fiscal policies adopted by the
government of China in the modern era to fight these problems. It ranges from increasing taxes
The Chinese government is infamous for intentionally regulating the price of its currency in
comparison with the US Dollar. The Chinese economy is entirely dependent on exports, and
for this, they have to keep the costs of their goods cheaper than their competition. To do that,
This shows that the Chinese policymakers are pro-measures and do not hesitate to put ut fiscal
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CONCLUSION
A review of the fiscal policy adopted by the People’s Republic of China in the past 70 years
reveals that fiscal policy should be understood as a macroeconomic stabiliser and part of the
public policy that helps modernise China’s system and capacity for governance. Fiscal policy
must be supported by sufficient financial resources and requires the regular and sustainable
operation of public finance. Changes in the objectives, tools, operational conditions and effects
of fiscal policy should be followed closely. China should look at national and global conditions
when deciding its future fiscal policy. The choice of China’s future fiscal policy must be based
on China’s national conditions, have an international version, and be combined with fiscal and
taxation reform to meet the needs of new economic development in the new era.
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