In many countries, governments struggle to contain their debt. In China, the authorities struggle even to count it. Last August and September, 54,400 auditors fanned out across the country, quizzing local officials, scrutinising their books and inspecting their pet projects in an effort to tally the Chinese government's liabilities. They went from top to bottom, examining 31 provincial-level governments (which are typically responsible for tens of millions of people), 391 cities (often home to a million or more), 2,778 counties (with populations of hundreds of thousands) and over 33,000 townships (which are typically home to about 10,000 people). Never has so much been audited by so many.
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