[SMM Steel Market Morning News] H1 new special bond issuance reached 2.07 trillion yuan, with issuance progress at about 47%.

Published: Jul 23, 2026 07:35
In H1 this year, new special bonds worth 2.07 trillion yuan were issued, with the issuance progress at about 47%. The funds were mainly used for key areas such as municipal and industrial park infrastructure, transport infrastructure, urban renewal, and social programs, effectively meeting the funding needs of major projects in key areas. Special bonds used as project capital exceeded 170 billion yuan, better leveraging the role of government investment to produce a multiplier effect.

★Macro★

01★★

[MoF: National Fiscal Revenue Grew Steadily in H1, Spending Front-Loaded]

The Ministry of Finance held a press conference to brief on national fiscal revenue and expenditure performance in H1 2026. Overall, fiscal revenue grew steadily, and fiscal spending was generally front-loaded. In H1, national general public budget revenue reached 12,104.7 billion yuan, up 4.7% YoY. Among this, tax revenue growth continued to accelerate—national tax revenue was 9.79 trillion yuan, up 5.3% YoY, with the growth rate 3.1 ppts higher than in Q1. By tax category, domestic VAT rose 6%, import VAT and consumption tax rose 11.8%, and stamp duty on securities transactions surged 97.3%. Ma Hongbing, Deputy Director of the Treasury Department under the MoF, said: “The cumulative growth of national general public budget revenue has picked up month by month, mainly thanks to China’s resilient and dynamic economy, which continued a generally stable, improving, and upgrading trend in H1. Meanwhile, rising prices, active stock markets, and strong foreign trade also effectively supported fiscal revenue growth.” On the spending side, national general public budget expenditure reached 14,332.9 billion yuan in H1, up 1.5% YoY. Necessary fiscal spending intensity was maintained to safeguard outlays in key areas. Among major expenditure items, social security and employment spending was 2,636 billion yuan, up 7.6% YoY; healthcare spending was 1,219.1 billion yuan, up 10.8% YoY.

02 ★★★

[H1 New Special Bond Issuance Reached 2.07 Trillion Yuan, Progress at About 47%]

Zhao Zeyong, Deputy Director of the Debt Management Department under the MoF, said that in H1 2026, new special bond issuance reached 2.07 trillion yuan, with issuance progress at about 47%. The funds were mainly used for key areas such as municipal and industrial park infrastructure, transport infrastructure, urban renewal, and social programs, effectively meeting the funding needs of major projects and key sectors. Special bonds used as project capital exceeded 170 billion yuan, better leveraging the role of government investment to catalyze broader investment activity.

★Industries & Downstream★

01 ★★

[Newly Installed Power Generation Capacity]

The National Energy Administration released national electricity statistics for January-June. China added 158.7 million kW of newly installed power generation capacity in January-June 2026, a decrease of 141.14 million kW YoY. Among this, new PV installed capacity was 72.07 million kW, a decrease of 142.09 million kW YoY.

At end-June, China’s total installed power generation capacity stood at 4.04 billion kW, up 10.8% YoY. Within this, solar power installed capacity was 1.27 billion kW, up 15.8% YoY; wind power installed capacity was 680 million kW, up 18.5% YoY.

02 ★★

[Shanghai’s 15th Five-Year Plan for Accelerating International Shipping Center Construction Released]

Shanghai officially released the 15th Five-Year Plan for Accelerating International Shipping Center Construction. According to the Plan, by 2030, Shanghai aims to achieve the overall goal of basically building an international shipping center with globally leading hub capabilities, high-quality and convenient modern shipping services, pioneering smart and low-carbon shipping innovation, a resilient shipping governance system, and a notable rise in global shipping resource allocation capacity. This goal will be reflected in four aspects. First, the shipping hub status will become more solid. Shanghai Port shall play a core and leading role in the Yangtze River Delta port cluster, striving for an annual container throughput of 58 million TEUs or above. Shanghai airports shall be basically built into a leading aviation hub in the Asia-Pacific region, with annual air passenger throughput reaching 150 million person-trips and air cargo and mail throughput around 4.7 million mt. Second, the logistics system will become more smooth and efficient. A high-quality multimodal transport development pattern shall take shape, featuring a more complete collection and distribution network, reasonable structure of multiple transport modes, high-quality and efficient whole-chain logistics services, and deep integration of the industry chain with the logistics chain. By 2030, the container water-water transshipment ratio will reach 55%, and container sea-rail intermodal volume will reach about 2 million TEUs. Third, shipping service functions will be significantly enhanced. Focusing on modern shipping services such as shipping insurance and maritime arbitration, the clustering of shipping service elements will accelerate, their capabilities will be comprehensively upgraded, and independent supply capacity will markedly improve. By the end of the planning period, the risk protection amount for green vessels will rise from 2.3 billion yuan to 10 billion yuan; the annual amount in dispute for shipping arbitration will exceed 3 billion yuan. Fourth, digital, smart and low-carbon transformation will further accelerate and upgrade. Shanghai will speed up building a cross-border and interlinked digital shipping ecosystem, and promote the cluster development of the green shipping industry. Port automated handling volume will reach 15 million TEUs, and airport passenger travel will achieve paperless end-to-end processes. Bunkering with green marine fuels will reach scale, with bonded LNG bunkering volume reaching 1 million m³.

03 ★★

[Ministry of Transport: H1 Fixed Asset Investment in Transport Reached 1.5 Trillion Yuan]

The Ministry of Transport released transport sector economic performance for H1 2026. In H1, fixed asset investment in transport reached 1.5 trillion yuan, with highways and waterways completing investments of 1.0 trillion yuan and 109.9 billion yuan, respectively.

04 ★★★

[Guangzhou Plans to Optimize “Housing Voucher” Resettlement Policy and Broaden Its Scope]

During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, Guangzhou plans to adopt comprehensive measures to digest existing commercial housing inventory. It will establish a full-caliber inventory database to dynamically monitor the scale of various types of commodity housing, including land supplied but not yet started, started but not pre-sold, under construction but unsold, and completed but unsold. It will optimize the “housing voucher” resettlement policy, broaden its application scope, and enhance its effectiveness. It will support the purchase of existing commodity housing for use as resettlement housing during urban village redevelopment, and encourage the purchase of existing commercial and office properties for use as operating-property resettlement. It will intensify efforts to destock commercial and office properties and, tailored to local conditions, promote the compliant conversion of existing commercial and office stock into uses such as medical care, education, elderly care, hotels, health and wellness, and government-subsidized housing. It will steadily advance the purchase of existing commodity housing for use as government-subsidized housing.

★Other Hot Topics★

[National Port Cargo Throughput Reached 9.07 Billion mt in H1, Up 2.0% YoY] The Ministry of Transport released transport sector economic performance for H1 2026. In H1, national ports handled 9.07 billion mt of cargo, up 2.0% YoY, with Q2 up 0.1% YoY. By structure, domestic trade throughput rose 1.0% YoY, and foreign trade throughput rose 4.3% YoY. Container throughput reached 180 million TEUs, up 5.9% YoY.

[Fujian’s GDP Grew 4.0% YoY in H1 2026] The Fujian Provincial Bureau of Statistics website released provincial economic performance for H1 2026. According to unified regional GDP accounting, H1 GDP reached 2,931.582 billion yuan, up 4.0% YoY at constant prices. Within this, the primary sector added value was 125.979 billion yuan, up 3.6% YoY; the secondary sector added value was 1,247.608 billion yuan, up 3.8%; and the tertiary sector added value was 1,557.995 billion yuan, up 4.1%.

[Jiangsu’s H1 GDP Grew 5.2%] According to the Jiangsu Provincial Bureau of Statistics, under unified regional GDP accounting, H1 2026 GDP reached 7,038.73 billion yuan, up 5.2% YoY at constant prices. Within this, the primary sector added value was 193.07 billion yuan, up 3.4%; the secondary sector added value was 2,952.06 billion yuan, up 4.9%; and the tertiary sector added value was 3,893.59 billion yuan, up 5.5%.

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[SMM Steel Market Morning News] H1 new special bond issuance reached 2.07 trillion yuan, with issuance progress at about 47%. - Shanghai Metals Market (SMM)