Accelerate the resumption of major investment projects and the State Council's deployment to accelerate the issuance and use of local special bonds

This year, more than 4000 key projects are planned to start construction, and 11000 key projects under construction in various regions will accelerate their progress.

Premier Li Keqiang presided over the meeting on March 17thexecutive meeting of the State CouncilIt is required to accelerate the resumption of major investment projects and effectively address shortcomings to benefit people's livelihoods.

The meeting emphasized that promoting the resumption of major investment projects should be an important part of stabilizing investment and expanding domestic demand, and efforts should be made to help solve problems such as employment, raw material supply, funding, and epidemic prevention material guarantee in the construction of various ownership major projects. Efforts should be made to accelerate the construction progress of 11000 key projects under construction in various regions.

With the intensification of countercyclical regulation, investment continues to shoulder the responsibility of stabilizing growth. Liu Zhe, Vice President of Wanbo New Economy Research Institute, stated that the current central government's emphasis on stabilizing investment is a forward-looking deployment in response to the dynamic transmission of investment caused by the epidemic. Stable investment can prevent the epidemic from evolving from short-term liquidity shocks to medium - to long-term investment impacts, compress the impact cycle to the shortest, and minimize the degree of economic impact.

With the gradual progress of resuming work and production, major projects have been launched first. Major engineering projects in the fields of energy, transportation, water conservancy, and electricity have resumed work in an orderly manner. Recently, the central government has held multiple meetings emphasizing the key role of effective investment, increasing the commencement of new investment projects, and accelerating the construction progress of ongoing projects.

At today's State Council executive meeting, it was also pointed out to accelerate the issuance and use of local government special bonds issued in advance according to regulations, expedite the allocation of central budget investments, urge the acceleration of pre construction work for more than 4000 key projects planned to start this year, and strengthen the reserve of follow-up projects. Establish a green channel for major project approvals and approvals, and start construction as soon as possible.

In order to hedge against the impact of the epidemic while considering local financing needs, increasing the supply of local bonds will be one of the necessary means to introduce effective funds to mitigate risks during the mitigation phase.

当前，各地正快马加鞭安排今年的地方债发行。3月16日，2020年河南省政府一般债券（一至二期）和专项债券（十三至十九期）信息披露文件公布。此前，黑龙江、宁夏、新疆、辽宁、宁波、甘肃等地也公布了地方政府债券发行文件或发行结果。

财政部公布的数据显示，截至2月底，2020年发行地方债券12230亿元。这一数字较去年同期7821亿元发行量，大幅增长超过56%。

中信证券发布的研报显示，1月份地方债共发行7850.64亿元，相比2019年1月份4180亿元同比激增87.8%。2月份地方债共发行4420亿元，相比去年同期3642亿元同比增加21%，其中专项债2400亿元，较去年2月增加50%。

财政部部长助理、党组成员欧文汉日前表示，要扩大地方政府专项债券发行规模，按照“资金跟着项目走”的原则，指导地方做好项目储备和前期准备工作，尽快形成有效的投资。

Information source: China Government website

Editor He Yang of this website/Organizing