Recently, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Opinions on Optimizing and Improving the Management Mechanism of Local Governments' Special Bonds" (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions"), proposing 17 measures in 7 areas, aimed at better leveraging the positive effects of special Bonds in strengthening infrastructure, addressing shortcomings, benefiting people's livelihoods, and expanding investment. According to the "Opinions," the scope of the investment areas for special Bonds and their use as project capital has been expanded. A "negative list" management for the areas of investment for special Bonds has been implemented, allowing projects not included in the "negative list" to apply for funds from special Bonds. Luo Zhiheng, chief economist at Yicai Securities, stated that expanding the areas of investment for special Bonds and implementing the negative list management effectively broadens the scope of use for special Bonds, which helps local governments to find suitable projects more quickly and avoids the phenomenon of "funds waiting for projects", thereby enabling financial resources to quickly generate physical work output and promote economic recovery. According to the "Opinions," for the use of special Bonds as project capital, a "positive list" management has been implemented to increase the ratio used for project capital. By province, the upper limit of special Bonds that can be used as project capital has been raised from 25% to 30% of the special Bonds issued for project construction in that province. (CCTV News)