Economist: No crisis over local governments' debts

Economists from China's top planning agency on Thursday ruled out the possibility of a major crisis in local government debt as the country begins a national audit into the situation.

"The bankruptcy of city governments such as Detroit in the US will not happen to China, because the Chinese economy is still on an overall upward track," Song Li, deputy director of the Institute of Economics Research under the National Development and Reform Commission, said at a news conference in Beijing.

China's local governments have enough equity to cover their borrowings, he said, explaining that local government debt was mainly in the form of high-quality assets, such as transportation and affordable housing projects.