An employee conducts welding operation in a workshop in Haikou National Hi-tech Industrial Development Park in south China"s Hainan Province, Nov. 14, 2025. (Xinhua/Pu Xiaoxu)

　　China decided to allocate 93.6 billion yuan ($13.4 billion) from its ultra-long special treasury bond funds to support equipment upgrading across major economic sectors, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the country"s top economic planner, said on Thursday.

　　The funds will support about 4,500 projects spanning industry, energy equipment, education, healthcare, grain and oil production and processing, customs inspection, the replacement of aging residential elevators, energy efficiency and carbon-reduction initiatives, as well as recycling and circular-economy applications, and the funds are expected to attract more than 460 billion yuan in total investment.

　　In addition to these project-specific allocations, the NDRC said it has transferred funds directly to local governments to continue targeted programs such as scrapping and replacing old trucks, updating urban bus fleets with new energy vehicles, and phasing out obsolete agricultural machinery.

　　Dong Shaopeng, a senior research fellow at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on Thursday that issuing ultra-long special treasury bonds to support equipment upgrading is a significant move, as it provides companies access to low-cost financing, spurring faster technological transformation and increased R&D investment.

　　The move is expected to create greater market demand for emerging industries and technologies and trigger a chain reaction that drives high-end talent recruitment, boosts household incomes and stimulates consumption.