Chinese Government Releases New Directive Banning New Projects in Poorest Regions

China's State Council released a blanket ban on some new state-funded construction projects in 12 provinces and regions throughout the country in recent weeks. The directives directed local governments and state-owned banks to stop work on projects that contain less than 50 percent of their planned investment. The twelve regions affected by the new ban are Chongqing, Gansu, Guangxi, Guizhou, Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Jilin, Liaoning, Ningxia, Qinghai, Tianjin, and Yunnan.