China's struggle to sell bonds poses quandary for economy

Shanghai

CHINA'S roaring bond engine is stalling heading into the new year, posing a quandary for policymakers as they try to curb leverage while keeping economic growth on track.

Bond issuance in December by Chinese companies and banks is 142 billion yuan (S$30 billion) less than the amount of notes they must repay this month, data combined by Bloomberg show. That's set for the biggest monthly gap on record. As borrowing costs soar, firms have cancelled or postponed at least 117.5 billion yuan of bonds, up from 29.7 billion yuan in November. That has dragged total issuance down to 266 billion yuan, less than a third of November.