Special local government bonds power regional growth

BEIJING - China's special local government bonds are expected to play a bigger role in powering regional economic growth, according to analysts.

Special local government bonds worth about 860 billion yuan ($124.51 billion) had been issued in the first five months of this year, according to a report from the Economic Information Daily.

Many of such bonds were used to help finance infrastructure projects expected to boost regional growth, the report said.

South China's Guangdong province in late May raised over 17.5 billion yuan via such bonds to finance the land and infrastructure development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

North China's Hebei province has a quota of 15 billion yuan this year to finance the development of the Xiongan New Area.

Rail transport, rural vitalization and water resources allocation might be key fields for future special local government bonds investment, the report said, citing analysts.