In the 1990’s, Zhu’s core mission was to address the consequences of former Premier Zhao Ziyang’s flawed fiscal-decentralization efforts. By pursuing fiscal reform one sector at a time, Zhao left room for local governments to form alliances with SOEs, which provided subsidies to local bodies and enabled them to withhold income from the central government.
1990年代，朱镕基的核心任务是解决前总理赵紫阳财政集中化失败的烂摊子。赵紫阳试图在各部门之间逐一进行财政改革，这给了地方政府与国企形成勾结的空间，地方机构因此获得了补贴，并可以截留中央政府的收入。这导致了国家公共债务高企，反过来迫使中央银行过度发行货币，造成通货膨胀加速。