China's bond issuance surges 50 percent in first half

BEIJING - The value of bonds issued in China in the first half of 2015 reached 8.3 trillion yuan ($1.36 trillion), up 50.3 percent from a year earlier, the central bank said on Friday.

Of the bonds issued during the period, 8 trillion yuan were issued through the inter-bank bond market, up 46.2 percent year on year, according to the People's Bank of China (PBOC).

Bonds issued in June alone hit 2.1 trillion yuan, up 105 percent year on year and up 31.5 percent from May.

The total balance of the bond market reached 39.5 trillion yuan by the end of June.

The PBOC cut both the requirement reserve ratio, the amount of reserves banks are required to hold, and benchmark interest rates in late June to boost the economy.

China's economy posted a better-than-expected growth of 7 percent in the second quarter of 2015, unchanged from the first quarter.