In an interview last month with the Web site of People’s Daily, a deputy head of the fiscal audit section of the National Audit Office said that since last year, the outlook for the economy as a whole, and for government revenue in particular, has “not been too sunny.”

“Under these circumstances, how to avert financial risks is quite an urgent issue,” said the official, Ma Xiaofang. Those concerns have already prompted the office to audit 36 local governments this year, after a similar check in 2011, Mr. Ma said. “We must have more insight into problems, risks and hazards in local government debt management,” he said.

China has made periodic efforts over the years to assess the scope of local government debt, and Sunday’s statement by the National Audit Office was too terse to tell how comprehensive the latest effort would be. Bankruptcy proceedings started this month by Detroit surprised and alarmed many in China, however, prompting renewed concern about the financial health of Chinese cities and towns.

While the Chinese government has considerable unused borrowing capacity at the national level as well as $3 trillion in foreign exchange reserves, any move by the central government to bail out profligate local governments would be politically contentious.

Using the foreign exchange reserves to cover local government debts would also be extremely difficult for practical reasons. The central bank has financed those reserves mostly by borrowing from Chinese commercial banks and needs to be able to repay them.