BEIJING - The total outstanding debt of China's local governments stood at 18.29 trillion yuan ($2.66 trillion) at the end of November, which is within the official limit, according to the Ministry of Finance.

The country's top legislative body has decided that the upper limit for local government debt this year should be 21 trillion yuan.

China issued local government bonds worth 45.9 billion yuan in November, bringing the tally for the first 11 months of this year to 4.1 trillion yuan.

China has made bond issuance the sole legal way for local governments to raise debt amid efforts to forestall systemic financial risks.