As of the end of October, outstanding local government debt totaled about 40.1 trillion yuan ($5.63 trillion), well below the debt cap for local governments in 2023 approved by the first session of the 14th National People's Congress - which was about 42.17 trillion yuan - according to the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday.

As of the end of last month, the debt raised for general use was 15.71 trillion yuan, and special-purpose debt was 24.39 trillion yuan. The debt raised through government bonds was about 39.94 trillion yuan.

The debt limit for general-use local government bonds was 16.55 trillion yuan, and for the special-purpose local government bonds, the debt limit was 25.62 trillion yuan.

Data from the ministry also showed that, during the first 10 months, the value of bonds issued nationwide stood at 4.33 trillion yuan, among which general-use bonds totaled 657.4 billion yuan and special-purpose bonds reached 3.68 trillion yuan.

Refinancing bonds issued during the period were 4.14 trillion yuan among which general refinancing bonds were 2.42 trillion yuan, and special refinancing bonds were 1.72 trillion yuan.

Local government bonds issued during the period were 8.47 trillion yuan, among which the general bonds were 3.08 trillion yuan and the special-purpose bonds were 5.4 trillion yuan.

liuzhihua@chinadaily.com.cn