中国城投债:特征、风险与监管

China’s City Investment Bonds:Characteristics,Risks and Regulation

中国城投债募集的资金基本用于基础设施和公用事业建设,社会效益相当显著。在中国政府大力推动城镇化的背景下,未来中国城投债市场还有较大的增长空间。目前中国城投债市场尚不存在系统性风险。与美国市政债相比,中国城投债无论绝对规模还是相对规模都较小。大多数地方政府具有偿还城投债的财政实力。零违约纪录和收益率错配是城投债的主要潜在风险。某些中西部地区未来有可能出现地方财政难以支付城投债本息的情况,从而发生局部风险。相关政策建议包括:允许城投债出现局部违约、要求城投债发行主体所在省份的投资者持有一定比例的该项债券、把城投债转变为真正的地方政府债。

The funds raised by China’s city investment bonds are basically used for infrastructure and utilities,thereby producing significant social benefits.Against the backdrop of the Chinese government accelerating urbanization,the market of city investment bonds will continually enlarge.Compared with the municipal bonds market of the United States,the scale of China’s city investment bonds remains small.Most local governments are financially capable of repaying the debts.So there are few systemic risks up to now.Zero default record and yield mismatch are the main potential risks.Default could happen in some middle and western regions,where the local governments may fail to repay their debts,thus causing the eruption of limited risks.Policy suggestions include allowing the default in local city investment bond,avoiding'home bias'and requiring investors from provinces where the debts are issued to hold some of the debts,and transforming the city investment bonds into real local government bonds.