At the end of March 2008, China 's outstanding external debt (excluding that of Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR, and Taiwan Province ) reached USD 392.589 billion, an increase of USD 18.971 billion or 5.08 percent compared with that at the end of 2007. Specifically, the outstanding long- and medium-term external debt (with the remaining term) reached USD 155.864 billion, an increase of USD 2.33 billion or 1.52 percent compared with that at the end of 2007, accounting for 39.70 percent of the total outstanding external debt. The outstanding short-term external debt (with the remaining term) totaled USD 236.725 billion, an increase of USD 16.641 billion or 7.56 percent compared with that at the end of 2007, accounting for 60.30 percent of the total outstanding external debt.
Among the outstanding registered external debt of USD 248.689 billion, the outstanding sovereign debt borrowed by ministries under the State Council totaled USD 34.820 billion, accounting for 14.00 percent; the outstanding debt of Chinese-funded financial institutions was USD 83.239 billion, accounting for 33.47 percent; the outstanding debt of foreign-funded enterprises was USD 78.970 billion, accounting for 31.76 percent;  the outstanding debt of foreign-funded financial institutions in China was USD 46.679 billion, accounting for 18.77 percent; the outstanding debt of Chinese-funded enterprises was USD 4.654 billion, accounting for 1.87 percent; and the outstanding debt of other institutions was USD 327 million, accounting for 0.13 percent.
From January to March 2008, long- and medium-term external borrowing came to USD 7.748 billion, an increase of USD 1.013 billion or 15.04 percent over that in the same period of the last year. The principal repayment was USD 4.595 billion, an increase of USD 488 million or 11.88 percent over that in the same period of the last year. The interest payment was USD 1.106 billion, an increase of USD 301 million or 37.39 percent over that in the same period of the last year.
At the end of March 2008, the scale of the total external debt of China maintained a growing momentum.