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China to use ultra-long bonds for consumer, trade-in policy support as worries about retail sales slump grow
China on Thursday announced its most targeted measures yet for boosting consumption, which has remained lackluster since the Covid-19 pandemic. Authorities announced they would allocate 300 billion Chinese yuan ($41.5 billion) in ultra-long special government bonds to expand an existing trade-in and equipment upgrade policy. The document was jointly published by the National Development and Reform Commission — China’s economic planning agency — and the Ministry of Finance. “There have never been such specific measures” aimed at consumption, Bank of China’s chief researcher Zong Liang said in a phone ... (full story)