BEIJING, Dec. 2 -- China issued new local government bonds worth 8.47 trillion yuan (about 1.19 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first 10 months of this year, the Ministry of Finance said.

Of the total, special bond issuance came in at 5.4 trillion yuan in the period, while the issuance of general bonds amounted to 3.08 trillion yuan.

During the January-October period, local government bonds were issued with an average issuance term of 12.6 years, and at an average interest rate of 2.9 percent.

In October alone, local government bond issuance reached nearly 1.4 trillion yuan.

By the end of October, China's outstanding local government debts stood at 40.1 trillion yuan, within the official limit for this year, the ministry said.