Most local governments have turned to real estate for cash, selling land at often inflated prices to make up budget shortfalls. ‘The reform of the tax system means that local governments have no other source of revenue, so they concentrate on land,’ said Yu Jianrong, an academic specializing in tracking farmers’ grievances. Yu says his surveys have found that as much as 30 per cent of the fiscal budgets of the government in Hebei are raised through the sale of land, a finite resource.
