Departments of Finance (bureaux) of provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government and Planned cities, Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, Central Government Bond Registration and Clearing Co., LTD., China Securities Registration and Clearing Co., LTD., Shanghai Stock Exchange, Shenzhen Stock Exchange, relevant financial institutions:

In order to speed up the issuance and use of local government special bonds (hereinafter referred to as special bonds), and to better play the role of special bonds in stabilizing investment, expanding domestic demand, and making up for weaknesses, we hereby inform you of the issues related to the issuance of special bonds as follows:

First, we will accelerate the issuance of special bonds. Financial departments at all levels shall, together with the corresponding project authorities of special bonds, speed up the preparatory work for the issuance of special bonds, and issue a batch of projects in mature preparation. Provincial financial departments should reasonably grasp the rhythm of special bond issuance, scientifically arrange the issuance plan in the later months of this year, especially in August and September, and accelerate the issuance progress. This year's local government bonds (hereinafter referred to as local bonds) issuance progress is not limited by the quarterly balance requirements, the cumulative completion of new special bond issuance by the end of September in principle should not be less than 80%, the remaining amount of issuance should be mainly in October.

Second, we will make the issuance of special bonds more market-oriented. Provincial financial departments shall, according to the scale of special bond issuance, bond market conditions and other factors, choose bidding (including flexible bidding), public underwriting and other ways to organize special bond issuance. The underwriting institutions shall comprehensively consider the interest rate level of national bonds of the same maturity, policy financial bonds and the valuation of local bonds in the secondary market and other factors to determine the bid price, and the local financial departments shall not exert influence on the underwriting institutions such as financial deposits to artificially reduce the price. As for the use of non-market methods to intervene in the pricing of local bond issuance, once verified, the Ministry of Finance will be notified.

Third, optimize bond issuance procedures. Provincial financial departments should not be later than 7 working days before the issue, and the issuing site to negotiate local bonds (including general bonds, special bonds, the same below) issue time, the issuing site should be in principle in accordance with the "first business first served" way to confirm. All issuing places should strengthen communication, avoid different provinces issuing local bonds in the same time window, and prevent concentrated issuance; For coordination by the Ministry of Finance, please contact the Ministry of Finance in time. Before the publication of this article, provincial financial departments have filed the issuance time with the Ministry of Finance, according to the established time to issue bonds. All localities may collectively issue the same type of special bonds in different cities and counties within the province to improve the efficiency of bond issuance. The Ministry of Finance will no longer restrict the proportion structure of the term of special bonds, and all localities shall reasonably determine the term of special bonds according to project construction and bond market demand. When the bond issue site is not in Beijing, the Ministry of Finance authorizes the provincial financial department of the bond issue area to notify the local office of the Financial Ombudsman in writing no later than 3 working days before the issue to send observers to the issue site.

Fourth, simplify the bond information disclosure process. The provincial financial department shall promptly disclose the relevant information of local bond issuance on the portal website of the unit, China Bond Information Network and other websites, and no longer file the information disclosure documents to be made public with the Ministry of Finance. Provincial financial departments are responsible for the compliance and integrity of information disclosure documents, and must strictly implement the responsibilities of special bonds corresponding to project authorities and cities and counties, urging them to scientifically formulate a balanced plan for project financing and income. Information disclosure is an important reference for the Ministry of Finance to evaluate the work of local bond issuance.

Fifth, we will accelerate the allocation and use of special bond funds. Financial departments at all levels should promptly arrange the use of special bond revenue, speed up the allocation of special bond funds, prevent funds from long-term retention in the Treasury, and bring into play the benefits of the use of special bonds as soon as possible. Where conditions permit, before the issuance of local bonds, the budgeted bond funds can be transferred through the dispatch of Treasury funds to speed up the project construction progress, and the Treasury funds can be replenished in a timely manner after the issuance of bonds.

6. Strengthen bond information reporting. In order to monitor the issuance of local bonds, provincial financial departments are requested to submit to the Ministry of Finance before the end of each month this year the plan to issue new special bonds in the next ten days, and the plan to issue special bonds in August to submit before August 20; No later than 6 working days before the issuance of bonds, submit plans and arrangements for the issuance time, scale, varieties and term structure of local bonds.

Ministry of Finance

August 14, 2018