(Adopted at the 6th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Fourteenth National People's Congress on October 24, 2023)

To accelerate the issuance and use of local government bonds, ensure funding for key areas and major projects, leverage government bonds' critical role in sustaining investment, expanding domestic demand, and shoring up areas of weakness, and promote steady and sound economic growth, the Standing Committee of the Fourteenth National People's Congress, at its 6th Meeting, decides: the State Council is hereby authorized, within the authorization period, to allocate a portion of the newly added local government debt quota of the following year in advance, within the limit of 60% of the newly added local government debt quota of the current year (including the quota for local government general debt and the quota for local government special-purpose debt). The authorization period shall commence on the date of this Decision's promulgation and terminate on December 31, 2027.

In accordance with the decisions and plans of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and based on the state of the economy and the needs of macro regulation, the State Council shall determine and allocate in advance a specific portion of the next year's newly added local government debt quota in the fourth quarter of each year. The allocation of the quota in advance to provinces, autonomous regions, and cities directly under the Central Government shall be reported to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for the record in a timely manner.

The people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and cities directly under the Central Government shall formulate their budgets based on the newly added government debt quotas allocated in advance and approved by the State Council, and shall implement them upon approval by the people's congresses at the corresponding levels, after which the quotas shall be allocated to lower-level governments in a timely manner. Lower-level people's governments shall, in accordance with the approved portion, propose plans for local government debt borrowing and use for the current year, incorporate them into budget adjustment plans, and submit them for approval to the standing committees of the people's congresses at the corresponding levels, with copies filed to provincial governments for the record. Provincial governments shall then borrow the debt on their behalf.

The State Council shall include, in its annual report on the execution of the budgets for the current year and on the draft budgets for the next year submitted to the National People's Congress for review and approval, the scale of the newly added local government debt quotas to be allocated in advance, and the respective quotas to be allocated in advance to provinces, autonomous regions, and cities directly under the Central Government. Once the report and the draft budgets are approved by the National People's Congress, the State Council shall allocate the approved local government debt quotas to provinces, autonomous regions, and cities directly under the Central Government in a timely manner and the scale of newly added government debt shall follow the approved budgets.

The State Council shall further improve the management system for local government debt, adopt effective measures to balance development and security, and ensure that outstanding local government debt does not exceed the approved quotas. It shall guard against and defuse local government debt risks while enhancing the role of government debt in supporting economic and social development. The competent department of local government debt and relevant departments under the State Council shall oversee local governments in strengthening the selection of potential projects, conducting feasibility studies, refining project application and screening procedures, and ensuring quality while improving efficiency in the approval process, to guarantee the timely use of funds after local government bond issuance and improve the efficacy of expenditure.

This Decision shall go into effect on the date of promulgation.