As local government officials looked forward to the new year, some hoped Beijing would relax restrictions on their financing tools.

Instead, they were hit with tougher rules.

"The four ministries' joint notification really grabbed us by the neck," said the manager of a local government financing platform (LGFP) company in Guizhou Province.

The document he referred to was released on December 24 by the Ministry of Finance, the central bank, the China Banking Regulatory Commission and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).