BEIJING, March 5 (Xinhua) -- China will issue 2.15 trillion yuan (about 320 billion U.S. dollars) of special local government bonds this year, an increase of 800 billion yuan over last year, says a government work report.

The report was available to the press on Tuesday morning ahead of the annual legislative session.

"This is designed to both provide funding for key projects and create conditions for better forestalling and defusing local governments' debt risks," the report says.