Unsecured bonds, which are easier for smaller issuers to arrange, are also set for rapid growth after an experimental issue in May last year by China Three Gorges Project Corp, the developer of the world's largest hydropower project, of three billion yuan in unsecured 20-year bonds.

The average issuance size will also be reduced as smaller firms, including private entities, issue more bonds. NDRC plans to divide this year's quota among more than 90 companies, double the number last year, analysts and industry sources say.

In late 2005, garment maker Hongdou Group, parent of Hongdou Industrial, became the first and so far the only non-state enterprise to win a quota for issuing long-term bonds.

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