Ledger · Sovereign borrowing
China’s local government debt and bond issuance in September 2026
China reported CNY 60.654 trillion of local government debt at the end of September 2026. Special debt accounted for 70.2%, and special bonds had longer issuance terms than general bonds.
Sources checked
September 2026
Shared scale · 0 years to 17.3 years
January to September 2026
Shared scale · 0 years to 17.3 years
Switch between September and the first nine months of 2026 to compare average terms for all three bond categories.
The balance at the end of September
The Ministry of Finance reported CNY 60,653.9 billion of local government debt. General debt accounted for CNY 18,076.9 billion and special debt for CNY 42,577.0 billion. A separate breakdown by form gives CNY 60,492.0 billion in government bonds and CNY 161.9 billion in legacy debt held in other forms. Source 1
Separate new and refinancing bonds
September’s CNY 1,004.8 billion of issuance comprised CNY 733.5 billion in new bonds and CNY 271.3 billion in refinancing bonds. From January to September the respective totals were CNY 4,229.3 billion and CNY 4,578.9 billion. The new versus refinancing split describes the use of issuance. The general versus special split describes bond categories. Source 1
Maturity measures use different bond pools
Special bonds issued in September had a 16.9-year average term at issuance, compared with 8.5 years for general bonds. The outstanding stock had a shorter average remaining term at 10.9 years for all bonds. Existing general bonds averaged 6.2 remaining years and special bonds 12.9. Source 1
Principal payments and interest are separate
The ministry recorded CNY 2,977.6 billion of principal coming due from January to September, including CNY 2,565.8 billion repaid through refinancing bond issuance and CNY 411.8 billion through fiscal and other funds. Interest paid over those nine months was CNY 1,200.4 billion. These are flows over a period, while the outstanding stock is measured at month-end. Source 1