COVID-19 has created long-lasting yet unprecedented challenges worldwide. In addition to scientific efforts, political efforts and public administration are also crucial to contain the disease. Therefore, understanding how multi-level governance systems respond to this public health crisis is vital to combat COVID-19. This study focuses on China and applies social network analysis to illustrate interactive governance between and within levels and functions of government, confirming and extending the existing Type I and Type II definition of multi-level governance theory. We characterize four interaction patterns—vertical, inter-functional, intra-functional, and hybrid—with the dominant pattern differing across governmental functions and evolving as the pandemic progressed. Empirical results reveal that financial departments of different levels of government interact through the vertical pattern. At the same time, intra-functional interaction also exists in provincial financial departments. The supervision departments typically adopt the inter-functional pattern at all levels. At the cross-level and cross-function aspects, the hybrid interaction pattern prevails in the medical function and plays a fair part in the security, welfare, and economic function. This study is one of the first to summarize the interaction patterns in a multi-level setting, providing practical implications for which pattern should be applied to which governmental levels/functions under what pandemic condition.

Background: New Urbanization is a major strategic decision for building socialism with Chinese characteristics, which has a profound significance for the comprehensive moves to finish building a moderately prosperous society, accelerating the process of socialist modernization, and other causes. The development of new urbanization requires the support of relevant mechanism and system, according to documents released by the State Council, promoting the innovation of urbanization system is a crucial component to the cause of new urbanization in 2015. Methods: Based on the way urbanization system is stipulated in The National New Urbanization Plan (2014)(2015)(2016)(2017)(2018)(2019)(2020), we analyze how the fund security mechanism promotes the innovation of urbanization system in Western China from the perspective of public finance and taxation. Results: Urbanization and fund security are related, public funding is important to urbanization and there exists multiple shortcomings in the process of urbanization in terms of public funding and taxation. Conclusions: Urbanization system can be promoted by improving the institution of fiscal transfer payment and local tax system.

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