9. Shanghai Finance Bureau issues local government bonds

Shanghai Finance Bureau issues two local government bonds successively in November and December. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Shanghai Finance Bureau issued a local government bond of 30 billion yuan in November through a government bond issuance system recently developed by the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The move was considered conducive to expanding the issuance channels of the local government bond market, to optimizing the structure of investors and to improving the fluidity of the bonds.

In December, the bureau issued a local government bond of 3 billion yuan, targeting Chinese and foreign investors who have opened free trade accounts in the Shanghai free trade zone. This was the first bond issued in a Chinese free trade zone and is helping to broaden backflow channels for offshore RMB and to push forward the internationalization of the Chinese currency.