(Yicai) Jan. 10 -- China will complete the issuance of this year’s first batch of local government bonds four days earlier than last year.

China’s central Hubei province and Qingdao in eastern Shandong province will issue CNY63.9 billion (USD8.7 billion) and CNY3.9 billion (USD531.9 million), respectively, in local government bonds on Jan. 13.

The proceeds of Qingdao’s local government bonds will be fully used to replace the city’s existing hidden debts. Some CNY45.1 million of the proceeds from the local government bonds issued by Hubei will also be used for this purpose.

As of Jan. 7, 16 Chinese provincial or municipal governments had disclosed plans to issue local government bonds in the first quarter of the year, with a cumulative amount of about CNY858 billion (USD117 billion).

The General Office of the State Council said in a policy document at the end of last year that local governments should accelerate the issuance of bonds, calling for early issuance and use to promote the accelerated start of construction projects and form physical workloads as soon as possible.

The progress of this year’s local government bond issuance is expected to be faster than last year’s, fiscal and tax experts told Yicai. This could positively drive effective investment and promote the stable growth of the economy in the first quarter of the year, they added.

This year, Chinese local governments will likely issue CNY10.5 trillion (USD1.43 trillion) worth of bonds, up 7.1 percent from last year, according to a research report by CIB Research. Among them, CNY2.3 trillion (USD313.7 billion) are expected to be issued in the first quarter, up over 53 percent from a year earlier.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione