China Kicks Off Special Bond Sale as Tariffs Threaten Growth

China issued the first batch of special sovereign bonds for the year on Thursday as part of the stimulus announced by authorities to soften the blow from simmering trade tensions with the US.

The Ministry of Finance issued a three-part special sovereign bonds which had a planned size of 286 billion yuan ($39 billion). The bond sale is to fund the fiscal package approved in March, but unlike sovereign debt, special bonds are issued for specific purposes and aren’t accounted for in China’s record high fiscal deficit target of 4% for the year.