China bans new government buildings for five years

This time they were also smart enough to ban some of the work arounds used to funnel money to construction during previous restrictions. China Orders Ban on New Government Buildings

Most tallies of total local government debt in China tend to be in the vicinity of $2 trillion, equal to three months of China’s entire economic output, but some estimates are even higher.

“We should put into perspective that the problem of local government spending on buildings is not the most serious problem facing China’s economy,” Mr. Li said in a telephone interview from Beijing. “The property bubble, shadow banking and the state-owned enterprise monopolies are far more risky.”