At the end of June 2011, China’s outstanding external debt (excluding that of the Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR, and Taiwan Province) reached USD642.528 billion. Specifically, the outstanding registered external debt reached USD402.828 billion and the balance of trade credit was USD239.7 billion.

With respect to the term structure, the outstanding long- and medium-term external debt (with the remaining term) was USD180.417 billion, accounting for 28.08 percent of the outstanding external debt. The outstanding short-term external debt (with the remaining term) was USD462.111 billion, accounting for 71.92 percent of the outstanding external debt. Specifically, the outstanding registered short-term external debt (with the remaining term) was USD222.411 billion and the balance of trade credit was USD239.7 billion.

In terms of the composition of the short-term external debt, at the end of June 2011 the balance of trade-related credit was USD348.221 billion, accounting for 75 percent of the outstanding short-term external debt (with the remaining term). Specifically, trade credit and trade financing accounted for 52 percent and 23 percent respectively of the outstanding short-term external debt. As trade-related credit is mainly based on real import and export trade, its growth is basically consistent with that of China’s import and export trade.  Therefore, the increase in the proportion of the short-term external debt will not affect the security of China’s external debt.

In terms of types of debtors, the outstanding debt of Chinese-funded financial institutions was USD182.852 billion, accounting for 45.39 percent of the outstanding registered external debt; the outstanding debt of foreign-funded enterprises was USD122.379 billion, accounting for 30.38 percent; the outstanding debt of foreign-funded financial institutions was USD52.418 billion, accounting for 13.01 percent; the outstanding sovereign debt borrowed by ministries under the State Council was USD39.353 billion, accounting for 9.77 percent; the outstanding debt of Chinese-funded enterprises was USD5.679 billion, accounting for 1.41 percent; and the outstanding debt of other institutions was USD147 million, accounting for 0.04 percent.

In terms of the types of debts, the balance of international commercial loans amounted to USD334.641 billion, accounting for 83.07 percent of the outstanding registered external debt, representing a 3.09-percentage-point increase compared with that at the end of 2010. The balance of foreign government loans and loans granted by international financial organizations amounted to USD68.187 billion, accounting for 16.93 percent.

In terms of the currency structure, debt in U.S. dollars accounted for 78.27 percent of the outstanding registered external debt, representing an increase of 7.86 percentage points compared with that at the end of 2010. Debt in Japanese yen accounted for 7.99 percent, representing a decline of 0.57 percentage point compared with that at the end of 2010. Debt in euro accounted for 4.09 percent, representing a decline of 0.32 percentage point compared with that at the end of 2010; and other kinds of debt including SDRs and HKD accounted for 9.65 percent of the outstanding registered external debt, a decline of 6.97 percentage points compared with that at the end of 2010.

In terms of industrial sectors in which the debt is invested, with reference to the Industrial Classification of the National Economy, USD50.292 billion was invested in the manufacturing sector, accounting for 23.79 percent of the medium- and long-term outstanding registered external debt (based on contract terms); USD26.496 billion was absorbed by the transportation sector, the warehousing sector, and the postal-service sector, accounting for 12.53 percent; USD17.133 billion went to the production and supply of electric power, and the coal, gas, and water sectors, accounting for 8.1 percent; USD8.13 billion was absorbed by the IT services sector, accounting for 3.85 percent; and USD10.626 billion was channeled to the real estate sector, accounting for 5.03 percent.

From January to June 2011, the long- and medium-term external debt totaled USD19.579 billion, a year-on-year decrease of USD197 million, or 1 percent. Repayment of the principal was USD11.412 billion, a year-on-year decrease of USD983 million, or 7.93 percent. Payment of interest was USD1.107 billion, a year-on-year decrease of USD336 million, or 23.28 percent.