China has pushed ahead with large infrastructure projects while providing tax breaks and other relief measures for firms and consumers, which resulted in a wider fiscal deficit of about 3 per cent of GDP in 2016. With a view to supporting the building of "a moderately prosperous sodety in all respects", the budget emphasized spending on education, science and technology, health care, poverty alleviation, social security and employment (China, 2016). Although the country's general government debt is relatively low, there are concerns about local government debt and contingent liabilities, which are being addressed with a revised fiscal law. The overall fiscal stance is expected to remain expansionary in the near term to stabilize the economy and to invest in social and infrastructure sectors.