Share of urban renewal bonds in all special bonds in China 2018-2022
In 2021, local governments in China issued 444.1 billion yuan worth of special bonds dedicated for urban renewal projects, representing 12 percent of all special bonds issued in China during the year. Residential housing in centers of major Chinese cities can often be found in rundown conditions, and for more than two decades, local governments regularly cooperated with real estate firms to demolish rundown neighborhoods before building high-rise apartments for sale. Owners of the original buildings were typically offered new units in the reconstructed properties or compensated monetarily.
