China's horizontal and vertical, tax-sharing reform

Visitors gather for the flag raising ceremony at Tiananmen Square to mark National Day in Beijing, China on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. Photographer: Andrea Verdelli/ Bloomberg

The Central Economic Work Conference of 2023, held on Dec 11-12, 2023, emphasised the need for a new round of reform measures, including new fiscal and tax reforms.

Since the launch of reform and opening-up in the late 1970s, several significant reform measures have been initiated at the macro level, with fiscal policy being chosen as the “foundation and important pillar of national governance”, and its institutional reform serving as the vanguard.