Insufficient Revenue? Chinese Officials Jack up the Fines

Having failed to meet revenue projections this year, local governments around China are turning to businesses for a hand. But not in the form of loans: instead they are practicing widespread extortion under the guise of fines and “administrative fees.”

Workers clean the facade of a building in Beijing on June 2, 2012. China's export-driven economy has begun to slow this year. Liu Jin/AFP/GettyImages