China stimulus push stalls as local officials try to avoid anti-corruption spotlight
President Xi Jinping’s nationwide anti-corruption push has scared local officials into not approving new development lest their shady past is uncovered
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 ($300 billion) of investment projects in the first 10 months of 2015, the country’s top auditor estimates $45 billion of projects are behind schedule, including a railway line in Yunnan delayed five years by official sloth.
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Provincial and city officials were once in the vanguard of China’s breakneck expansion, and they didn’t always play by the rules for procurement or when awarding contracts or rights for land use.
Now, when the central government is trying to lift growth from 25-year lows, they fear drawing attention to themselves in case their past comes back to bite them.
China has stepped up inspection and auditing of big projects to curb graft since late 2012, when President Xi Jinping declared war on corruption, vowing to go after powerful “tigers” and lowly “flies”.
“Many people fear that the more they do, the more likely they will get into trouble,” said an official in southern Jiangxi province, who requested anonymity.
