Claim Shanghai borrowed 10 billion yuan from temples is false

A claim circulating online that Shanghai borrowed 10 billion yuan from local temples is false, a city official said.

On July 2, a screenshot purportedly from NetEase News said information came from an anonymous official at the city's finance bureau that "Shanghai borrowed 10 billion yuan (US$ 660.135ml) in incense money from local temples as short-term debt, with Jing'an Temple contributing the most, at 4.8 billion yuan...".

However, this claim is false and purely fictitious, according to the city's religious and financial departments. Director Pu from the Shanghai Municipal Finance Bureau's budget office said the city's local general public budget revenue had seen steady growth in the first half of this year, with a healthy fiscal operation overall.

Official figures will be disclosed on authoritative platforms in mid-July, per information disclosure regulations. The cyberspace administration is investigating the spread of the false information and has handed over relevant information to public security authorities for further investigation.