Abstract: In China, the public finance reform has been going on for 40 years. Public finance in China has not only the meaning of distribution tools and unique functions, but also the main position of the public in the power structure of financial operation. Therefore, we can sum up the 40-year history of public finance construction from the two angles of “finance”and“public”. Based on the perspective of “finance”, after 40 years of continuous construction, China’s fiscal reform has made remarkable achievements in distribution scale, distribution structure, risk control, fiscal policy and other aspects, but there are also problems in such as concept caliber, data release, fiscal concept, integrity norms, operating environment, functional structure and so on. Based on the “public” perspective, China’s finance has also made some progress in the public’s right to know, decision and supervision, but there are also shortcomings in the financial legal framework, the core position of the NPC, financial transparency, public opinion collection and other aspects.

Key words: public finance, fiscal capacity, fiscal revenue elasticity, fiscal transparency, fiscal policy