September 29, 2007 -- At the end of June 2007, China 's outstanding external debt (excluding that of Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR, and Taiwan Province , the same as below) reached USD327.802 billion, an increase of USD 4.814 billion or 1.49% compared with that at the end of 2006. Specifically, the outstanding long- and medium-term external debt (with the remaining term) reached USD 142.933 billion, an increase of USD 3.573 billion or 2.56% compared with that at the end of 2006, accounting for 43.60% of the total outstanding external debt; the outstanding short-term external debt (with the remaining term) totaled USD 184.869 billion, an increase of USD 1.241 billion or 0.7% compared with that at the end of 2006, accounting for 56.40% of the total outstanding external debt.
Among China 's total outstanding external debt, the outstanding registered external debt reached USD 216.702 billion and the balance of trade credit was USD 111.1 billion. Among the outstanding registered external debt, the outstanding sovereign debt borrowed by ministries under the State Council was USD 34.608 billion, accounting for 15.97%; the outstanding debt of Chinese-funded financial institutions was USD 70.648 billion, accounting for 32.60%; the outstanding debt of foreign-funded enterprises was USD 64.036 billion, accounting for 29.55%; the outstanding debt of foreign-funded financial institutions in China was USD 43.843 billion, accounting for 20.23%; the outstanding debt of Chinese-funded enterprises was USD 3.282 billion, accounting for 1.52%; and the outstanding debt of other institutions was USD 285 million, accounting for 0.13%.
From January to June 2007, long- and medium-term external borrowing was USD 15.369 billion, an increase of USD 5.492 billion or 55.60% over the previous year. The principal repayment was USD 11.005 billion, an increase of USD 2.653 billion or 31.76% over the previous year. The interest payment was USD1.740 billion, an increase of USD 622 million or 55.64% over the previous year.
In the first half year of 2007, the growth rate of Chinas external debt slowed down, and the outstanding registered external debt witnessed negative growth for the first time in the past five years, with the short-term registered external debt dropping greatly and the share of the short-term external debt declining for the first time.