China issues 4.5t yuan of bonds in March

BEIJING - The value of bonds issued in China totaled 4.5 trillion yuan ($671.6 billion) in March, according to data from the central bank.

Treasury bond issuance stood at 150 billion yuan, while local government bond issuance was worth 624.5 billion yuan, according to the People's Bank of China.

By the end of March, the size of outstanding bond market debt was 89.1 trillion yuan.

China will speed up local government bond issuance this year to help the timely implementation of various projects.

The debt balance of local governments stood at 18.39 trillion yuan at the end of 2018, well below the official ceiling of 21 trillion yuan.