An employee of Lin'an Rural Commercial Bank counts banknotes at the bank's branch in Xitianmu area in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, on Feb 25, 2020. （Photo by Hu Jianhuan: For China Daily)

BEIJING - China's local governments have issued around 3.49 trillion yuan ($496.5 billion) worth of bonds in the first half of this year, official data showed Wednesday.

In June alone, local governments issued 286.7 billion yuan worth of bonds, with 117.6 billion yuan worth of special bonds, according to the Ministry of Finance.