The government debt risk in China is generally controllable, and the current debt ratio of the government is not high, according to Xiao Jie, China's minister of finance. Xiao made the remarks at a press conference during the ongoing Two Sessions on March 7.

At the end of 2016, Xiao explained, the debt balance of China's central and local governments stood at about 27.33 trillion RMB, and the debt ratio was approximately 36.7 percent. The Ministry of Finance has forecast that the debt ratio will not see a big change before the end of 2017. Compared with international levels, there is still room for the Chinese government to borrow, the minister stated.

Xiao noted that the Ministry of Finance has established a series of measures and even contingency plans to counter local government debt risk.