As at the end of September 2020, China recorded RMB 15.6252 trillion in outstanding external debt denominated in both domestic and foreign currencies (equivalent to USD 2.2944 trillion, excluding those of Hong Kong SAR China, Macao SAR China, and Taiwan Province China, the same below).

With respect to the term structure, the outstanding medium- and long-term external debt was RMB 6.8019 trillion (USD 998.8 billion), accounting for 44%; while the outstanding short-term external debt was RMB 8.8233 trillion (USD 1.2956 trillion), taking up 56%, including 40% trade-related credit.

In terms of institutions and sectors, the outstanding debt of government totaled RMB 2.2293 trillion (USD 327.3 billion), accounting for 14%; the outstanding debt of the central bank totaled RMB 270 billion(USD 39.7 billion), accounting for 2%; the outstanding debt of banks totaled RMB 7.3425 trillion (USD 1078.2 billion), taking up 47%; the outstanding debt of other sectors (including inter-company lending under direct investments) totaled RMB 5.7834 trillion (USD 849.2 billion), taking up 37%;

In terms of debt instruments, the outstanding of loans was RMB 3.2183 trillion (USD 472.6 billion), accounting for 21%; the outstanding of trade credit and prepayment was RMB 2.3821 trillion (USD 349.8 billion), accounting for 15%; the outstanding of currency and deposits was RMB 3.4108 trillion (USD 500.9 billion), accounting for 22%; the outstanding of debt securities was RMB 4.4352 trillion (USD 651.3 billion), accounting for 28%; the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) allocation amounted to RMB 67 billion (USD 9.8 billion), accounting for 0.5%. The outstanding debt of inter-company lending under direct investments totaled RMB 1.7422 trillion (USD 255.8 billion), accounting for 11%; and the outstanding of other debt liabilities was RMB 369.6 billion (USD 54.2 billion), accounting for 2.5%.

With respect to currency structures, the outstanding external debt in domestic currency totaled RMB 6.1089 trillion (USD 897 billion), accounting for 39%; the outstanding external debt in foreign currencies (including SDR allocation) totaled RMB 9.5163 trillion (USD 1.3974 trillion), accounting for 61%. In the total outstanding registered external debt in foreign currencies, the USD debt accounted for 84%, the Euro debt accounted for 8%, the HKD debt accounted for 4%, the JPY debt accounted for 2%, the SDR and other foreign currency-denominated external debt accounted for 2%.

China’s major external debt metrics were all within the internationally recognized thresholds, indicating that the external debt risk is controllable on the whole.

Appendix

Definition of terms and interpretations

External debt classification by term structure. There are two methods to classify the external debt by term structure. One is on the basis of the contract term,i.e. it is classified as medium- and long-term external debt if the contract term is over one year, and classified as short-term external debt if the contract term is one year or less; the other is on the basis of the remaining term, i.e.,on the basis of the contract term classification method above, the medium- and long-term external debt due within one year is classified as short-term external debt. In this news release, external debt is divided into medium- and long-term external debt and short-term external debt based on the contract term.

Trade-related credit is a broad concept. In addition to trade credit and prepayment, it also involves other kinds of credit provided for trade activities. As it is defined,trade-related credit includes trade credit and prepayment, bank trade financing, short-term notes related to trade, and so forth. In particular, trade credit and prepayment refer to external liability arising from directly extending credit between the seller and buyer of goods transactions, specifically transactions between residents in the Chinese Mainland and overseas non-residents (including non-residents in Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR, and Taiwan Province), i.e., the debt incurred due to the difference between the time of payment and the time of the goods ownership transfer, which include credit directly provided by the supplier (e.g., the overseas exporter) for goods and services, and advance payments made by buyers(e.g., overseas importers) for goods, services, and on-going business (or business to be undertaken). Bank trade financing refers to trade related loans that offered by a third party(e.g., banks) to exporters or importers, for instance, loans extended by foreign financial institutions or export credit agencies to buyers.