Premier Wen Jiabao has claimed on Wednesday that China's local government debt increased by just $47 million or 300 million yuan in the previous year.

The slight increase in local government debts in 2011 comes after the authorities had urged the banks in the country to make such lending stricter and local governments were forced to stay on budget.

Mr. Wen said that the country's local governments borrowed 2.1536 trillion yuan in new debts and repaid 2.1533 trillion yuan in older dept. He was speaking at the end of the country's annual parliament session.

Chinese governments had 10.7 trillion yuan in debt at the end of 2010, as per the data released by the China's national audit office. About a forth of the loan were to mature in 2011 and experts had warned that about 20 to 30 percent of the loans would become sour and this could affect China's banking system and also slowdown the country's economic growth.

"The government debt level is under control, and is safe. The debt-to-GDP and budget deficit-to-GDP ratio for China is at a fairly low level. They are both lower than many developed countries and in emerging market economies," he said.