Lack of government financial subsidies for buses in Dancheng County, Henan Province.
The Dancheng County Bus Company in Zhoukou City, Henan Province issued a suspension notice on the 12th, saying that due to operational difficulties, it could not pay drivers for several months and was forced to completely stop driving. Recently, there have been reports of arrears in wages for teachers and civil servants in many parts of China. Since the bus companies in China are all state-owned, Dancheng County cannot pay salaries to drivers, which further confirms that the problem of local financial deterioration has surfaced.
The Dancheng County Bus Company had already stopped driving on the evening of the 11th, but it was not until the 12th that it issued a notice. The employees admitted that the company was operating in difficulties, and the subsidies promised by the local authorities had not been detailed.
A staff member of the Dancheng Bus Company told the Chinese media Red Star News, "The minimum price of a car costs more than 200 yuan a day. The cost is large, the income is low, and it cannot be sustained." The employee admitted that the operation was difficult and nearly For two or three years, almost no government subsidies have been received. As a result, Dancheng County, which has a population of 1.3723 million, is in a dilemma of no buses. The students who are about to start school and the elderly who have no means of transportation are the most affected. .
This is not the first time the Dancheng County Bus Company has stopped running. Henan "Dahe Daily" reported on July 20 this year that the Dancheng County Bus Company suffered serious losses due to operational difficulties, many drivers left, and it was difficult for some lines to continue to operate. Therefore, the operation of bus lines 3 and 6 was suspended. Henan's financial red light sparked a lot of discussion. Although the employer once announced that some buses will resume running, but the wages owed have not been written down, and they may stop running again at any time.
China's local government arrears in wages and financial alerts
It was reported that public hospitals in Liaoning Province of China did not pay salaries for 5 months and owed more than 20 years of pension insurance. Earlier, Zhejiang Province and Shanghai and other places issued announcements saying that due to the economic slowdown and shrinking tax revenue, civil servants have reduced their salaries by 2 to 20 years. 30%, highlighting the continued deterioration of China's local finances.
Hegang City, Heilongjiang Province also reported the cancellation of the plan to recruit grass-roots civil servants. Although it disappeared shortly after the announcement, the whispers that "the local government is out of money" have spread like wildfire.
According to statistics, as of October 2021, the balance of local government debt in 31 provinces and cities in China reached 29.65 trillion yuan, and only the local government debt in five provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions including Shanghai, Guangdong, Beijing, Zhejiang and Jiangsu The rate is lower than the 100% risk warning line.
As for Qinghai, Heilongjiang, Ningxia, and Inner Mongolia, the local debt ratio of four provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions exceeds 300%, and Qinghai even exceeds 500%.
Pei Minxin, a Chinese-American scholar, once wrote in Nikkei Asia that China has borrowed heavily since 2009 to stimulate economic growth. Today, debt accounts for 264% of gross domestic product (GDP).