Although China has some of the world's lowest level of foreign debt and official government debt, the Chinese government and state owned banks and enterprises actually owe an enormous amount of debt to domestic financial institutions and households. This presentation first catalogs the different segments of debt owed by the Chinese government and related entities and the claimants on this debt. It then discusses some implications for future public policies in China.
Victor Shih is an associate professor of political science at Northwestern University. He is interested in political economy in developing countries broadly, and how politics affect economic outcomes in China specifically. His book, *Factions and Finance in China: Elite Conflict and Inflation* (NY: Cambridge University Press, 2008) explores the timely question of how politics affects the large volume of underperforming loans on the books of Chinese banks. His on-going projects investigate the performance of Chinese banks, signaling in elite politics, and elite selection in China. Victor Shih received his Ph.D. from Harvard University.