$3 trillion of special national bonds to be used for capital injection begins in May; state-owned major banks receive further capital strengthening

Recently, the Ministry of Finance disclosed on its official website the issuance arrangements for general government bonds and special government bonds in 2026, as well as the capital injection plan for central financial institutions through special government bonds. The arrangements show that these bonds will be issued on May 22 and June 12, respectively, with maturities of 5 years and 7 years, and interest paid annually. This arrangement marks the official operational phase of the second round of state capital injections into major state-owned banks. Combined with the first round of capital injection completed in 2025, the total support of 800 billion yuan across two rounds will establish a systemic capital protection framework covering all large state-owned commercial banks. Based on the experience from the first round, the upcoming second round of 300 billion yuan in special government bond capital injections is expected to strictly follow the “one bank, one policy” principle. The market generally expects that Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Agricultural Bank of China will be the focus of this round of injections. (21 Finance)