Fiscal support on its way, IPO reform largely cosmetic

Government bond issuance, a timely proxy for the fiscal stance, fell year-on-year last month. But all the signs are that this will be temporary, with borrowing likely to ramp up in the coming months.

Meanwhile, officials are preparing to implement a long-awaited overhaul of China’s IPO regime. But the government’s desire to use the stock market to channel funds to preferred sectors means the new approach will suffer from similar political constraints as the old one.