1. Report Industry Investment Rating No relevant content provided. 2. Core Viewpoints of the Report The report focuses on the characteristics of local government bonds in the first half of 2025, including primary issuance, secondary trading, and institutional behavior, aiming to provide a comprehensive review of the local government bond market in this period [9]. 3. Summary According to the Directory 1.1. Local Government Bond Primary Issuance Characteristics - **Feature 1: Record - high issuance and net financing scale in the same period** - In H1 2025, the local government bond issuance scale reached 5490.2 billion yuan, the highest in the same period in the past decade. The net financing scale was 4413.3 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 2540.8 billion yuan. The issuance of 2 trillion yuan of special bonds for replacing hidden debts was front - loaded, mainly concentrated in January - April, with the overall issuance progress close to 90% [10][13][15]. - **Feature 2: Issuance structure: New special bonds have the highest proportion, but the proportion is declining** - In H1 2025, new special bonds and refinancing special bonds accounted for 40% and 39% respectively, with issuance scales of 2160.7 billion yuan and 2150.2 billion yuan. The proportion of new special bonds slightly decreased, while that of refinancing special bonds increased. New general bonds accounted for the lowest at 8%, with an issuance scale of 452 billion yuan [19]. - **Feature 3: Special bond issuance rhythm: Overall progress is relatively stable** - In H1 2025, the issuance progress of new special bonds was relatively stable, with a relatively balanced monthly issuance scale compared to 2024. As of June 2025, the cumulative issuance of new special bonds was 21606.53 billion yuan, compared with 23008.50 billion yuan and 14934.68 billion yuan in the same period of 2023 and 2024 respectively [21]. - **Feature 4: The underlying logic of debt - resolution quota allocation is still the resolution of hidden debts** - Debt resolution remained the top priority in H1 2025. The issuance scale of local government bonds for debt resolution remained large, including 464.8 billion yuan of special new special bonds for debt resolution and 1794.4 billion yuan of refinancing special bonds for replacing hidden debts. The proportion of key areas in local government bonds for debt resolution in H1 2025 was 31%, the same as in 2024 but significantly lower than the 66% in 2023 [22][27]. - **Feature 5: Land reserve special bonds restarted, but there is a gap between actual issuance and announced scale** - In H1 2025, 9 provinces (including municipalities directly under the Central Government) issued land reserve special bonds, with a total scale of 192.5 billion yuan. As of mid - July 2025, the announced land acquisition scale was 426.2 billion yuan [30]. - **Feature 6: The proportion of special bond issuance scale in "self - review and self - issuance" provinces has increased** - The proportion of new special bond issuance scale in "self - review and self - issuance" provinces increased significantly. From 2020 - 2023, the proportion of special bond issuance scale in the pilot areas was about 53%, and in H1 2025, it rose to 69%, possibly related to the faster approval of special bonds in these provinces [34]. - **Feature 7: Issuance term has been extended** - In H1 2025, the average issuance term of local government bonds was 14.69 years, an extension of 1.46 years compared to 2024. The proportion of local government bonds with a term of over 15 years in terms of both scale and quantity increased [38][43]. - **Feature 8: Issuance cost has decreased, while issuance spread has widened** - In H1 2025, the issuance spread of local government bonds rebounded to 12.22BP, an increase of 3.73BP compared to 2024, and the average issuance interest rate decreased to 1.89%, a decrease of 0.39pct compared to 2024. The "flying" phenomenon of local government bonds was significant in the first half of the year, mainly in 30 - year bonds [46][48]. - **Feature 9: Regional issuance spreads continue to diverge in a low - interest - rate environment** - In H1 2025, regional issuance spreads continued to diverge significantly, following the rule that "the stronger the fiscal strength, the lower the spread". Economically strong regions maintained low spreads, while some less - developed regions had high spreads [50]. - **Feature 10: The spread of special refinancing bonds is higher than that of ordinary refinancing bonds** - The spread of special refinancing bonds is higher than that of ordinary refinancing bonds, mainly because the issuance term of special refinancing bonds is generally longer. Nationally, the spreads of special refinancing bonds and special new special bonds are 16.53BP and 13.96BP respectively, higher than those of ordinary refinancing bonds (9.56BP) and ordinary new special bonds (12.55BP) [52]. 1.2. Local Government Bond Secondary Trading Characteristics - **Feature 11: Trading volume has increased, trading price has risen, and turnover rate has decreased** - In H1 2025, the trading volume of local government bonds was 10.87 trillion yuan, an increase of 1690.3 billion yuan compared to the same period in 2024. The turnover rate was 3.65%, a year - on - year decrease of 0.04 percentage points, mainly due to the significant decline in the turnover rate of general bonds. The trading volume and turnover rate of special bonds are higher than those of general bonds. Regionally, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shandong have higher turnover rates [55][61]. 1.3. Local Government Bond Institutional Behavior Characteristics - **Feature 13: There are differences in institutional buying and selling behaviors and term preferences** - From the buying side, insurance, funds, and wealth management prefer to sell short - term bonds and buy long - term bonds, while rural commercial banks prefer to buy bonds with a term of 7 - 20 years. From the selling side, large - scale banks, joint - stock banks, city commercial banks, and securities firms were net sellers in H1 2025. Large - scale banks, joint - stock banks, and city commercial banks prefer to buy short - term and sell long - term bonds, while securities firms reduced their holdings across all terms [3].