ZCZC
BCN-23
CHINA-GROWTH-DEBT
China sees stable growth in external debt in Q2
BEIJING, Sept. 30, 2018 (BSS/Xinhua) – China’s external debt continued to
grow in the second quarter of 2018 with improved structure, said the State
Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) Friday.
The outstanding external debt totaled about 1.87 trillion U.S. dollars at
the end of June, up 1.5 percent from that at the end of March, said the SAFE
in an online statement.
The growth was mainly attributed to an increase in holdings of China’s
domestic yuan-denominated bonds by overseas non-resident institutions, the
SAFE said.
Short-term borrowing accounted for 64 percent of the outstanding external
debt, while long- and medium-term borrowing accounted for the remaining 36
percent, the SAFE data showed.
The structure of external debt has improved. Demand for domestic yuan-
denominated bonds from overseas institutional investors registered rapid
growth as China opens its domestic bond market wider to the world, SAFE said.
By the end of June this year, overseas institutions held 7.28 percent of
China’s treasury bonds, up 2.31 percentage points since the beginning of the
year, a record high.
The SAFE said amid the uncertainties in the global financial and economic
market, China’s economy remains resilient, which creates favorable conditions
for cross-border capital flow to remain basically balanced. It pledged to
continue efforts in preventing financial risks while better serving China’s
real economy.
BSS/XINHUA/HR/1508