As of September 27, statistics from Qiye Yujingtong show that the scale of new special-purpose local government bonds (hereinafter referred to as "special bonds") issued during the year has exceeded 3.36 trillion yuan, completing more than 70% of the full-year quota of 4.4 trillion yuan.

Under the tone of a more proactive fiscal policy, special bonds, as a core policy tool for stabilizing investment and expanding domestic demand, have been deployed early and directed precisely, providing solid support for the stable operation of China's economy.

In terms of regional distribution, in the first half of the year, Guangdong, Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Anhui, and Henan ranked highest in issuance amounts, at approximately 513.307 billion yuan, 279.977 billion yuan, 271.900 billion yuan, 257.771 billion yuan, 190.256 billion yuan, 163.343 billion yuan, and 153.794 billion yuan, respectively.

In the first half of the year, to further activate new momentum for local development, Hebei, Jiangxi, Hubei, and Chongqing were included in the pilot scope of "self-review and self-issuance" for local government special bond projects, with their special bond issuance scales during the year rising to 147.127 billion yuan, 89.247 billion yuan, 106.735 billion yuan, and 126.504 billion yuan, respectively.

From the perspective of fund allocation, the direction of new special bonds in the third quarter continued the pattern of the first half, mainly concentrated in three major areas: municipal and industrial park infrastructure, transportation infrastructure, and livelihood services, together accounting for more than 60%, while continuously expanding into areas such as land acquisition and reserves and emerging industries.

Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, special bond issuance will enter the final concentrated release window of the year. Industry insiders believe that funds intensively deployed at this stage and forming tangible work volume will play a supporting role in full-year growth and the start of next year.

The investment research team at Guotai Haitong Securities expects that the use of special bonds in the fourth quarter will be more flexible, and some provinces with insufficient project reserves may increase the issuance of special new special bonds.

The research team at China Chengxin International recommends further accelerating issuance and use, increasing the leverage of funds, improving project reserves, and strengthening full-process management; making good use of established stock policies, accelerating the progress of new special bond issuance and use, and reserving and promptly introducing incremental policies as appropriate. At the same time, it is advisable to explore "negative list" management for areas where special bonds can be used as capital and a "special bond plus" model, so as to better leverage the "four taels moving a thousand catties" effect of special bonds.

In addition, multiple industry insiders said that the phenomenon of "emphasizing issuance while neglecting management" still exists, and how to make good use of this funding is crucial.

In the view of Luo Zhiheng, chief economist at Yuekai Securities, local governments have strengthened full-lifecycle performance management of special bonds, which has played a positive role in forming more tangible work volume. At present, many places are also actively exploring and practicing to continuously improve quality and efficiency.

For example, the Guangdong Provincial Department of Finance has continuously optimized and improved post-investment management ledgers, innovatively carried out post-investment management pilots, and clarified post-investment management responsibilities, striving to ensure that post-investment management is "clearly organized." Among these efforts, focusing on making the post-investment management ledger detailed and solid, the department has expanded the content of the post-investment management ledger to cover project funds, construction and operations, asset recording, and other links, forming detailed ledgers with relatively complete information and a relatively clear base.

In terms of improving the efficiency of fund use, the Guangdong Provincial Department of Finance has also explored and innovated a "bond-loan linkage" investment and financing model, allowing eligible projects to arrange or adjust funds used as project capital according to actual conditions, fully leveraging the important role of special bonds in leveraging and expanding effective investment. For example, for the Guangdong water resources allocation project in the Beibu Gulf Rim, 4.6 billion yuan in special bonds was arranged as project capital, effectively leveraging 21.1 billion yuan in market-based financing.

The Gansu Provincial Department of Finance, meanwhile, has taken multiple measures to promote the quality and efficiency of bond allocation and use. For example, for regions with high debt risk levels, large temporary payment scales, and difficulty in repaying bond principal and interest, it strictly controls new quotas and limits them to issuing only for projects under construction; the information system sets early warning rules for bond payments, providing timely warnings and deadline corrections for irregular use.

Li Xuhong, vice president of the Beijing National Accounting Institute, believes that in the future, the pilot of "self-review and self-issuance" for special bonds should be continuously deepened, project reserves and demonstration of financing revenue balance should be strengthened, and funds should be ensured to flow into areas with genuine economic and social benefits. At the same time, performance management and supervisory accountability should be improved, and a full-lifecycle regulatory system for special bonds should be established to prevent idle or inefficient use of funds.