Prior sales of such bonds are rare: In the aftermath of the Asian Financial Crisis in 1998, for example, the government issued special debt to replenish capital for major state-owned banks. The most recent sale was in 2020, when authorities issued 1 trillion yuan worth of those bonds to pay for pandemic response measures.
China is considering 1 trillion yuan ($188.19 billion) of new debt issuance under a so-called special sovereign bond plan, only the fourth such sale in the past 26 years, as authorities seek more money to finance intensifying efforts to shore up the world’s second-largest economy.
The proposal under discussion by senior policymakers would involve the sale of ultra-long sovereign bonds to fund projects related to food, energy, supply chains and urbanization, people familiar with the matter said.
