China to step up fiscal policy implementation to spur economic recovery: official

BEIJING - China will intensify the implementation of its fiscal policies to support economic recovery, a finance ministry official said on Wednesday.

The country will issue the ultra-long special treasury bonds in a timely manner and make good use of the funds raised from the bond sales, Lin Zechang, of the Ministry of Finance, told a press conference.

Lin said that the country will also speed up the issuance of local government special-purpose bonds and expedite the use of funds raised from these bonds.

The issuance of local government bonds has reached 1.9 trillion yuan ($266.31 billion) as of July 26 this year. China will expand the range of areas to which the funds can be channeled to include sectors such as new types of infrastructure and new industries, Lin said.

According to the government work report, the country will implement a proactive fiscal policy this year, and issue 3.9 trillion yuan of special-purpose bonds for local governments.

China has also planned to issue one trillion yuan of ultra-long special treasury bonds this year, Lin said, noting that as of July 24, 418 billion yuan of such bonds have been issued.