China Seeks to Spur Growth by Giving Local Officials Bond Leeway
- A key government bond can be used more flexibly for projects
- Changes may help localities better drive investment, economy
China’s leaders have placed boosting domestic demand as their top priority for economic work in 2025.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
China is allowing local officials to invest in more areas with a key government bond while also simplifying its approval process in a bid to make better use of an important source of public funding to drive the economy.
Local governments can use their special bonds to invest in projects as long as they’re not on a special list published by the cabinet, the government said in a document Wednesday. That list includes projects that don’t generate any returns, government buildings, vanity constructions like giant sculptures and commercial property.