Abstract: Institutional environment, as an important factor affecting enterprises financing cost,investors′ income and risk, has become a necessary consideration for the financing term selection of the related parties. Corporate bond financing relies more on open credit evaluation and effective investor protection mechanism than credit financing. Considering the imbalance between regional development and different institutional environments in China, does the impact of institutional environment exist and what are its characteristics?This paper explores the effect and mechanism of institutional environment such as law and government governance, on the term structure of corporate bond issuing in China by utilizing the bond data from 30 provinces between 2009 and 2015. Empirical study finds there exist significant negative relations between law environment, government intervention, market oriented financial development, intermediary services and bond term structure, which resembles those of China's bank credit characteristics but are contrary to relevant western literature. Government intervention contributes to the abnormal features in China's corporate bond issuing by way of direct government supports and supervisory negotiation for local enterprises. The results show that government intervention is the most important informal institution while formal institutions are still developing in China.The Conclusion depicts the unique role of China′s institutional environment in the process of corporate borel financing, which demonstrates the significance of strengthening and improving the relevant laws of market economy to the healthy development of enterprises.

Key words: institutional environment, bond issuing, term structure