Pilots kick off for individuals to buy local government bonds

Chinese mainland stock exchanges are carrying out trials to allow individuals to buy local government bonds, in a move aimed at decreasing financing costs and improving liquidity.

The Ministry of Finance has given the Shenzhen Stock Exchange approval to issue local government bonds through a particular bond issuance system and individual investors can purchase these bonds, the exchange said on Wednesday.

According to the bourse, Sichuan province will be the first to issue local government bonds totaling 30 billion yuan ($4.4 billion) on Aug 1, and 12 securities firms will be underwriters.