China's Ministry of Finance said on July 22 that local government bond issuance was generally stable in the first half of the year, with proceeds from special bonds increasingly directed toward key areas. Zhao Shengyong, deputy director of the ministry's debt management department, said 2.07 trillion yuan of new special bonds were issued in H1, primarily funding municipal and industrial park infrastructure, transport, urban renewal and social programs, ensuring financing for major projects and priority sectors. The ministry has strengthened "penetrating" oversight of special bond funds and conducted "scanning" inspections of their use, vowing to crack down on violations. Zhao said the ministry will guide local governments to improve closed-loop management of special bonds — covering borrowing, use, repayment and oversight — to accelerate fund disbursement and project implementation, strictly enforce a "negative list" for fund use, and boost repayment capacity through better collection of project operating revenues.