China has laid out plans to issue Yuan 3.75 trillion ($526.8 billion) of new local government special bonds this year, up from Yuan 2.15 trillion in 2019, which will boost infrastructure construction and benefit diesel as well as steel consumption. Receive daily email alerts, subscriber notes & personalize your experience. Register Now The announcement came during Premier Li Keqiang’s address to the National People’s Congress on May 22, when he said there would be no GDP target for China in 2020 due to uncertainty caused by the coronavirus outbreak. Li said the emphasis would be on maintaining employment levels and maintaining living standards rather than significantly boosting economic growth. While this may have sent out weak signals regarding commodities demand — and indeed iron ore futures declined initially — […]