BEIJING — China's local governments have issued around 3.49 trillion yuan (about $496.5 billion) worth of bonds in the first half of this year, official data showed on July 8.

In June alone, local governments issued 286.7 billion yuan worth of bonds, with 117.6 billion yuan worth of special bonds, according to the Ministry of Finance.

During the January-June period, local governments issued about 2.37 trillion yuan in special bonds at an average interest rate of 3.33 percent, according to the ministry.

The local government bonds had an average issuance term of 15.1 years.

Amid contraction of global trade and investment, China aims to spur effective domestic investment by planning the issuance of more special local government bonds, with priority given to new infrastructure, new urbanization initiatives and key projects spend.