China's local govts issue bonds worth 4.88 trillion yuan in Jan-Aug

BEIJING -- China's local governments issued nearly 4.88 trillion yuan (about $752.5 billion) worth of bonds in the first eight months of this year, according to the Ministry of Finance.

Of the total, special bond issuance came in at 2.78 trillion yuan in the period, while the issuance of general bonds amounted to 2.1 trillion yuan, data from the ministry shows.

During the January-August period, local government bonds were issued with an average issuance term of 11 years and at an average interest rate of 3.39 percent.

In August alone, local government bond issuance reached 879.7 billion yuan.

By the end of August, China's outstanding local government debts stood at 28.47 trillion yuan, within the official limit of 33.28 trillion yuan for this year, the ministry said.