Red tourism a white elephant now
Plans to bring crowds to Chinese Communist Party’s Rucheng county backfires.
RUCHENG COUNTY: In the heart of an impoverished village in southern China, a life-sized statue of Mao Zedong sits on a platform adorned with intricate stonework, flanked by a diorama of Red Army soldiers and traditional brick-and-tile homes with curved roofs.
Officials have spent a small fortune on the project that has transformed the village of Shazhou, in Hunan province, into an open-air museum dedicated to the Chinese Communist Party. But few tourists have come to peer at the inscription at the foot of Mao’s statue, or take selfies in front of the heroes of the revolution.
The “red tourism” project was the brainchild of the former Communist Party chief of the local county, Rucheng, and cost 300 million yuan (RM182mil). But it has yet to produce a profit, just like the string of public gardens, town squares and office buildings that the county has built in recent years.
Now the clock is ticking as Rucheng, among China’s poorest counties, and with a population of just 420,400 people, is under pressure to resolve US$1bil (RM4.18bil) in debt, following a decade of credit-fuelled vanity projects, three local officials said.
To raise funds and conserve cash, Rucheng – which doesn’t have a train station or an airport – has been slashing public investment in infrastructure projects and increasing government land sales to generate revenue, the officials said.
Rucheng is not alone – hundreds of other indebted counties in China are in the same boat. In a recent financial stability report, the central bank said that much of China’s hidden debt risk is held at lower-tier levels, meaning prefectures and counties like Rucheng.
As China prepares this month to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the economic reforms that trans-
formed it into the world’s second-largest economy, fears over local government debt are growing.
China’s local governments had 18.4 trillion yuan (RM11.15 trillion) of outstanding debt at the end of October, and were estimated by S&P Global Ratings to have up to 40 trillion yuan ( RM24.25 trillion) in off-budget borrowing.
Of particular concern to the authorities as they tackle risks in the financial system are those governments with tiny revenue streams relative to their debt.
Rucheng’s free-spending ways came onto Beijing’s radar this year when visiting anti-corruption inspectors were shocked by the contrast between the county’s newly built but deserted municipal district and cramped older areas where
residents drink polluted water from aging pipes.
When the inspectors were in town, numerous anonymous complaints arrived in the mail.
Since 2008, Rucheng has spent billions on 10 office buildings, 11 public gardens and squares and 26 urban roads, the anti-corruption inspectors found. But less than 6% of government spending went on investing in industry.
Vanity investments helped drive Rucheng’s debt ratio – or borrowing relative to fiscal revenue – to 336% last year from 286% in 2016, and 274% in 2015.
“We must rectify the problem according to what is required of us, otherwise the local people will not trust our government officials anymore,” said one of the officials.
The head of Rucheng’s Communist Party was sacked for profligate spending and “ignoring the livelihood of the local people”.
Hunan province also placed Rucheng on a “top-level government debt warning list” of counties with debt ratios over 100%, the Rucheng officials said.
Local governments on the list face restrictions on taking on new debt, launching new projects, hiring employees and travelling overseas, they said.
Since the anti-corruption inspection, Rucheng has suspended, cancelled and scaled back 79 government projects, cutting investment by 2.1 billion yuan (RM1.27bil), the officials said.
All Rucheng officials have been working seven days a week and meeting regularly with local residents, the three officials said. One official died from overwork, they added.
More than 30 million yuan (RM18.2mil) is also being spent on renovating old water pipes.
To resolve the debt problem, Rucheng has to repay 400 million yuan (RM242.5mil) a year in principle and interest to reduce its outstanding government debt.
Rucheng’s debt ratio has since dropped to about 60.6%, said the official at its finance department. On Dec 5, the provincial government lowered Rucheng’s government debt warning level from “first-level” to “second-level”, the officials said.
But the legacy of the vanity spending remains deserted.