BEIJING, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- China's local governments raised 4.36 trillion yuan (680 billion U.S. dollars) through debt issuance in 2017, official data showed Wednesday.

Local government debt balance stood at 16.47 trillion yuan by the end of 2017, below the government-targeted ceiling of 18.82 trillion yuan, data released by the Ministry of Finance (MOF) showed.

New debt issuance stood at 1.59 trillion yuan while that issued through the debt-for-bond swap program reached 2.77 trillion yuan, according to the MOF.