Study On The Improvement Of The Horizontal Fiscal Transfer Payment System Among Local Governments In China

During the 40 years of reform and opening up in China,a socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics has been established,the economy of our country has developed rapidly and the living standards of the people have also improved greatly.However,along with economic development,the phenomenon of uneven economic development among regions has become increasingly serious.The fiscal transfer payment system plays an important role in coordinating the finance,it can compensate for the imbalance in financial resources between different regions under the market economy system by redistributing financial resources among governments,promoting balanced financial development in each region and balancing the level of regional public services.Depending on the direction of the flow of funds,the fiscal transfer payment system can be subdivided into two different forms,namely,the vertical fiscal transfer payment and the horizontal fiscal transfer payment.By directly transferring financial resources between local governments in economically developed regions and those in economically less developed regions,the horizontal fiscal transfer payment system can serve the important function of bridging the horizontal fiscal imbalance,narrowing regional economic gaps,promoting the equalization of basic public services and resolving local government debt problems,which not only meets the requirements of social equity and justice values,but also embodies the connotation of efficiency values,helping to promote the better achievement of the goal of equalization of basic public services in ChinaAt present,the fiscal transfer payment in China is still very imperfect,and the existing transfer payment is mainly regulated vertically,while horizontal fiscal transfer payment between regions has not yet been regulated at the legal level.The existing basis for horizontal financial transfer payment is mainly scattered in some local documents,and in practice,it is manifested through helping ethnic and poor regions,ecological compensation,and counterpart support for mega disasters,etc.It has great Chinese characteristics and has played a good role in regulating the financial disparity between regions in the process of implementation.However,it still has obvious deficiencies and defects in many aspects,which are mainly manifested as follows:China attaches insufficient importance to the legislation on financial transfer payments,and the relevant legislation is absent;the positioning of the horizontal financial transfer payment system is not clear,and the coordination between relevant systems is not strong;the criteria and procedures for transfer payment funds are not clear,resulting in its low operability;the supporting measures are not sound,and local governments are not highly motivated to participate,making it difficult to form a sustainable operation model,and there are cases of unreasonable use of funds,lack of supervision and unsound accountability at a later stageThe horizontal fiscal transfer payment system of Germany is very mature and advanced in many aspects.It is possible to draw on the experience of Germany and combine it with our national conditions and actual situation to improve our horizontal fiscal transfer payment system.The path to improvement mainly includes:Improving relevant legislation and establishing a sound system of laws and regulations;clarifying the positioning of the horizontal fiscal transfer payment system and achieving harmonization between institutional norms;setting scientific operating procedures and funding standards for horizontal transfer payment to improve the operability of the system;strengthening the construction of supporting measures,establishing special agencies to be responsible for coordination and management,introducing multiple forms of incentives,and establishing a multi-level supervision and accountability mechanisms to ensure the achievement of the goal of equalization of basic public services.These improvement paths can effectively solve the problems of the horizontal financial transfer payment system among local governments in China,and promote the formation of a win-win regional economic interest community among local governments,ultimately achieving the goal of common development and prosperity.