Zhu Rongji’s economic legacy is now Xi Jinping’s crisis to solve

Advertisement But beyond the unwavering politics of such events, each reform the obituary lists has now translated into an economic crisis for Beijing to handle. The 1994 fiscal reform is a classic example. It famously gave the centre greater control over finances, even as it left expenditure obligations with local governments across its four levels – starting with provinces, down to townships. How local governments subsequently generated money has now translated into Beijing’s most controversial bubble – through the property sector. But since its unravelling after the introduction of the “three red lines” policy in 2020 and Evergrande’s loan default…