Have you ever heard of "selling hills"? Not the kind of scenic tourist destination, but ordinary hillsides.
Who would have thought that even this kind of place could be sold?
But now, even the mountains have become a life-saving straw for some local governments to "save their lives".
This scene makes people sigh: what kind of predicament has brought the local government to this point?
In the summer of 2024, the Olympic Games are in full swing.
Behind the hustle and bustle of the global sporting event, however, a disturbing reality is creeping in:
Many local governments are engaged in an unprecedented "fire sale".
The scale and scope of this "fire sale" have forced people to re-examine the current situation of local finances on the mainland.
Let's start with a staggering number.
In 2023, the country's land sales revenue will be 5,799.6 billion yuan.
This figure may seem large at first glance, but compared to 2021, it has decreased by 33%, about 3 trillion yuan!
You must know that land transfer fees have always been the "cows" of local finance, and such a large decline has undoubtedly sounded the alarm for many local governments.
It's like a sudden drop in a family's main source of income, can it not be heart-wrenching?
What is even more worrying is that this downward trend has not stopped.
In the first half of 2024, the revenue from land sales not only continued to decline, but the decline was also expanding.
This ongoing decline is like a deepening vortex, and one can't help but worry: If this trend continues, will more local governments fall into financial trouble?
In this case, some local governments are starting to rack their brains to figure out how to do it.
Some places have begun to sell the real estate, factories and equity held by the state-owned assets platform, which is still a routine operation.
But the next series of actions are jaw-dropping: some places actually want to sell the 30-year-old operation rights of scenic spots! What's more, even the right to funerals, the right to contract hills and waters, and even the right to contract for institutions and school canteens are all sold out.
Where is this normal asset operation, it is simply a "big sale"!
This kind of "fire sale" behavior is like a family encountering financial difficulties and having to sell their furniture, electrical appliances, and even ancestral old objects.
Although this approach can solve the urgent need for a while, in the long run, it is undoubtedly overdrawing the future.
Why, you might ask? The answer is simple: to keep your salary.
Let's take a look at the example of Wumeng Mountain A County.
In 2022, the county's fiscal revenue was only 706 million yuan.
But by 2023, the budget for salary protection alone will be as high as 2.63 billion yuan!
This gap is like a person with a monthly salary of 3,000, but the monthly expenses are more than 10,000.
How can you live like this? This huge gap between income and expenditure makes one wonder: why is this happening? Didn't previous fiscal planning take this possibility into account?
More worryingly, this is not an isolated case.
During the 2024 Olympic Games, some people who read the headlines found that people in the system in many places reported that there were performance suspensions and salary delays.
It's like a company that starts to pay behind on its wages, obviously experiencing serious financial problems.
The widespread occurrence of this phenomenon shows that the predicament of local finances is no longer an isolated phenomenon, but a widespread problem.
So what's the problem?
First of all, we have to admit that long-term dependence on land finance is an important reason.
It's like a person who has been relying on lottery wins for a long time to make a living, and once they are unlucky, they will immediately get into trouble.
Similarly, when the income from land sales drops sharply, many local governments are like weaned children, and they are suddenly at a loss.
This model, which is highly dependent on a single source of income, carries significant risks in itself.
Second, the salary and welfare standards and the scale of employment in the system seem to have exceeded the actual capacity.
It's like a family buying too many luxuries, and they can't make ends meet.
In the face of declining incomes, this high standard is naturally unsustainable.
The question is how did this standard come about? Has the actual affordability of local finances been taken into account?
In addition, does the functional positioning and operation mode of local governments also need to be re-examined?
In the era of rapid economic growth, local governments have played an important role as promoters.
But as the economy enters the new normal, does this role need to be adjusted?
How to control costs and improve efficiency while ensuring government efficiency?
Faced with this dilemma, many local governments have opted for the strategy of "guaranteeing wages".
Their idea is simple: as long as they can keep their wages, they can maintain basic social stability.
But is this really possible? Let's break it down.
First of all, it is not a long-term solution to protect wages by selling various assets and the right to operate them.
It's like a person who sells all the valuable things in his home for money and spends, how long can this practice last?
What's more, these assets could have created sustainable income for the local government, and now selling them all at once is tantamount to killing chickens and eggs.
Second, this approach does not solve the fundamental problem.
Even if wages are temporarily preserved through the "fire sale", if the structural problems of income and expenditure are not resolved,
The same dilemma will continue in the future.
It's like a person borrowing a loan shark to pay off a mortgage, which seems to solve the immediate problem, but in fact only leaves the bigger trouble for the future.
What's more, this "big sale" can have a range of negative consequences.
For example, some important public resources are sold at low prices, which may affect the interests of ordinary people.
Another example is the sale of some long-term operating rights, which may limit the future development space.
These are all issues that need to be carefully considered.
So what should be done?
Some people have suggested that the solution to the problem should be to clean up personnel and reduce salaries and benefits so that they match the normal revenue of local finances.
This advice sounds reasonable, like when a family is experiencing financial difficulties, the first thing to do is to cut back on expenses.
However, this approach may encounter great resistance in practice, after all, no one wants to take a pay cut or lose their job.
Moreover, this approach faces a dilemma: if there are large-scale layoffs or salary cuts, it may affect the normal functioning of the government and the quality of public services.
It's like a company making significant layoffs in order to save costs, which can lead to a decrease in product quality and ultimately greater losses.
In the end, what we look forward to seeing is that local governments can get out of the dilemma of "fire sale".
Find a path to sustainability.
This road may be difficult, but as long as we persist in reform and innovation, we will be able to walk out of a new world.
After all, China's development history has proven many times that we are capable of overcoming all kinds of difficulties and constantly creating new miracles.
Each of us should pay attention and participate in this process.
Because the health of local finances is directly related to the quality of life and future development of each of us.
We need to look at the current difficulties rationally and actively participate in the reform.
Contribute to our hometown and our country.
Let's work together to look forward to a healthier fiscal and more sustainable future!
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