China’s Planners Are Preparing for a Major Financial Crash
The country’s latest five-year plan includes measures to build up bailout funds, but it is unclear where the funding will come from.
Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission Wu Qing, Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission Zheng Shanjie, Finance Minister Lan Fo'an, and People's Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng, attend a press conference, March 6, 2026. Credit: VCG via AP Images
China’s national leadership is more worried about the country’s economy than many observers realize — judging by the finer details of the 15th Five-Year Plan.
For the first time, the plan includes instructions to prepare for a future financial crash by building out bailout funds. But while the risk of such a crash is primarily tied to the strained budgets of struggling local governments, most of the solutions Beijing proposes would require them to simultaneously insure more of the econo
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