Year-ender: major financial events of 2020

China issues special government bonds for COVID-19 prevention and control

To prop up the economy hit by the novel coronavirus outbreak, China issued a total of 1 trillion yuan of special government bonds this year for COVID-19 prevention and control.

Proceeds from the bonds funded 24,199 projects, most of which are related to infrastructure construction and the fight against the coronavirus outbreak, Minister of Finance Liu Kun told Xinhua in an interview.

In terms of infrastructure construction, money has been injected into 12 detailed areas, such as food and energy security, industrial chain transformation, ecological environmental management, transportation infrastructure and public health system construction.

To help companies and residents tide over difficulties in pandemic, special funds have been issued in several areas related to people's livelihoods, such as house rent exemptions, low-income groups' living allowances, tax cuts and loan subsidies for key enterprises.