By Bingyan Wang


Hong Kong-listed infrastructure stocks rose in early trading Friday after a Wall Street Journal report that Beijing is considering issuing $140 billion in special treasury bonds to finance infrastructure projects and other initiatives to boost economic growth.

Shares of China Railway Construction Corp., China Railway Group and China Communications Construction Co. were 5.3%, 4.2% and 3.65% higher, respectively, in mid-morning trade, against a 0.7% gain for Hong Kong's benchmark stock index. CRRC and China National Building Material added 2.6% and 2.0%, respectively.

Beijing is considering issuing roughly 1 trillion yuan ($140.43 billion) in special treasury bonds to fund infrastructure projects and to indirectly help local governments repay debt, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the discussions.

The report came after China released a series of weak economic data that indicated a further slowdown in the country's postpandemic economic recovery.

During the pandemic, the central government used special treasury bonds to help Covid-hit sectors and stimulate infrastructure spending. Beijing issued special bonds in 2020 and late 2022, totaling about CNY1.750 trillion.


Write to Bingyan Wang at bingyan.wang@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

06-15-23 2344ET