China has made crucial progress in the field of public expenditure management in the past ten years. This article reviews the reforms in budget formulation, approval, implementation and audit. Some weaknesses remain: for example, important decisions are still made outside of the budget process; and the highly decentralised fiscal system means that achievements at the national level have not been implemented at provincial and lower levels. Strengthening accountability mechanisms and enforcing aggregate fiscal discipline constitute the challenges for reforms in the next phase.