The pace of corporate bond sales in China has eased in recent months after the National Development and Reform Commission temporarily slowed approvals for new issues as part of tightening measures to slow down investment, The Standard of Hong Kong reported. The NDRC told issuers they could start submitting applications from May 15 for the commission's second review for this year for corporate bond issuance, but underwriters at two large Shanghai securities firms told the newspaper they received verbal notification from bond issuers and the local NDRC office that the regulator isn't accepting any more applications. With corporate bond issuance estimated at less than US$12.5 billion annually, any tightening is not expected to significantly slow overall investment.