BEIJING -- China's local governments issued new bonds worth around 9.34 trillion yuan ($1.31 trillion) in 2023, data from the Ministry of Finance showed.

Of the total, special bond issuance came in at 5.99 trillion yuan in the period, while the issuance of general bonds amounted to nearly 3.35 trillion yuan.

Last year, local government bonds were issued with an average issuance term of 12.4 years at an average interest rate of 2.9 percent.

In December 2023 alone, local government bond issuance reached 195.6 billion yuan.

By the end of last month, China's outstanding local government debts stood at around 40.74 trillion yuan, within the official limit for this year, the ministry said.