About this paper

In modern times, salt tax was oneof the important national fiscal revenues and a major debt guarantee, workingas a primary collateral for the debts of central and local governments. Thispaper analyzes the complicated process from the establishment of therelationship between salt tax and government debt, to the development of aclose tie, to the end of the relationship. The process reveals that governmentdebt depended so heavily on salt tax that it played a vital role in governmentborrowing and payment, and it also fully demonstrates the economic backwardnessof the regimes.

Reference

Ma Jinhua, Liu Pei. Government Debt andSalt Tax Mortgage in Modern China [J]. Studies in Salt Industry History,2014(2).