As of August 2, 2026, local government bond issuance totaled approximately RMB 6.61 trillion, including RMB 2.41 trillion of new special bonds. This represents 55% of the annual quota of RMB 4.4 trillion, below the 63.1% pace in the same period of 2025. Guangdong led with RMB 287.025 billion, followed by six other provinces. The Politburo has urged faster use of fiscal funds and bond proceeds.
In the first half of 2026, China launched 25 major water conservancy projects, including the Three Gorges New Waterway and Liaodong Peninsula water allocation scheme, while completed water conservancy investment reached RMB515.1 billion. The national water network now covers 80.3% of the country's land area, with 35 of 40 planned backbone channels and 473 of 588 key storage nodes built or under construction. Annual investment has exceeded RMB1 trillion for four consecutive years since 2022. Flood control, irrigation and regional water supply projects advanced, with 387 million mu of farmland drained during flood season. Irrigated land contributed 88.11% of summer grain output.
The Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee decided on July 30 that the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee will convene in Beijing in October 2026. The meeting analyzed the economic situation and set second-half priorities, stressing accelerated fiscal spending and bond fund use. New special bond issuance in the first half hit RMB2.07 trillion, or 47% of the annual quota. Consumption growth slowed to 1.3% in H1, with auto sales down 12.6% and appliance sales down 7.4%. The meeting pledged to expand domestic demand, build a modern industrial system, and advance opening-up, while setting a 2030 target of 100 trillion yuan for the services sector.