China identifies 15,000 projects to be backed by 1-trillion-yuan bond issuance

This aerial photo taken on September 21, 2023 shows the Dayudu water lifting project in Ruicheng County of Yuncheng City, North China's Shanxi Province. Photo: Xinhua/Yang Chenguang

China's top economic planner said on Thursday that it has allocated all the funds raised through the issuance of an additional 1 trillion yuan ($140 billion) special government bonds for disaster relief and other projects, involving a total of 15,000 public projects.

More than half of the funds are used for the construction of water conservancy projects like flood control, over 200 billion yuan will be used for post-disaster recovery and reconstruction in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and other regions, while the rest is used for the improvement of disaster prevention and mitigation capabilities, Liu Sushe, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said on Thursday in Beijing.

Those projects are being carried out in a managed fashion, Liu said, noting that the operating rate of related projects in Beijing city is 48 percent and that in North China's Hebei Province in 45 percent.

Liu said the authorities will strive to make those projects get started in the first half of the year to generate more tangible economic gains within the year.

The Chinese central government announced in October last year that it plans to issue 1 trillion yuan special government bonds, starting from the fourth quarter, to support the rebuilding of disaster-hit areas and raise the country's disaster-relief capabilities.

In addition, China plans to systematically address funding shortages facing some major projects in the course of advancing the national rejuvenation and it will issue ultra-long special treasury bonds starting this year and over each of the next several years, according to this year's Government Work Report.

Liu said the NDRC has carried out study with related government agencies to formulate a plan to use the funds. He said the commission will reserve a batch of projects in key areas including sci-tech innovation, integrated development of urban and rural areas, regional coordinated development as well as food and energy security.

The official said increasing effective investment and leveraging the key role of government investment in social investment is a key part of the NDRC's work this year. This year, 700 billion yuan will be earmarked out of the central government budget for investment on public projects.