As at the end of March 2024, China recorded RMB 17.827 trillion in outstanding external debt denominated in both domestic and foreign currencies (equivalent to USD 2512.6 billion, excluding those of Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR, and Taiwan Province of China, the same below).

In terms of maturity structure, the outstanding medium-and long-term external debt was RMB 7819.7 billion (equivalent to USD 1102.1 billion), accounting for 44 percent; while the outstanding short-term external debt was RMB 10007.4 billion (equivalent to USD 1410.5 billion), taking up 56 percent, of which 33 percent was trade-related credit.

In terms of institutional sectors, the outstanding debt of general government totaled RMB 3034.6 billion (equivalent to USD 427.7 billion), accounting for 17 percent; the outstanding debt of the central bank totaled RMB 830.6 billion (equivalent to USD 117.1 billion), accounting for 5 percent; the outstanding debt of banks totaled RMB 7747.2 billion (equivalent to USD 1091.9 billion), accounting for 43 percent; the outstanding debt of other sectors (including inter-company lending under direct investments) totaled RMB 6214.6 billion (equivalent to USD 875.9 billion), accounting for 35 percent.

In terms of debt instruments, the balance of loans was RMB 2790.1 billion (equivalent to USD 393.2 billion), accounting for 16 percent; the outstanding trade credits and advances was RMB 2636.5 billion (equivalent to USD 371.6 billion), accounting for 15 percent; the outstanding currency and deposits was RMB 3572.4 billion (equivalent to USD 503.5 billion), accounting for 20 percent; the outstanding debt securities was RMB 5624.3 billion (equivalent to USD 792.7 billion), accounting for 31 percent; the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) allocation amounted to RMB 340.1 billion (equivalent to USD 47.9 billion), accounting for 2 percent; the balance of inter-company lending under direct investments totaled RMB 1998.4 billion (equivalent to USD 281.7 billion), accounting for 11 percent; and the balance of other debt liabilities was RMB 865.2 billion (equivalent to USD 121.9 billion), accounting for 5 percent.

With respect to currency structures, the outstanding external debt in domestic currency totaled RMB 8558.7 billion (equivalent to USD 1206.3 billion), accounting for 48 percent; the outstanding external debt in foreign currencies (including SDR allocation) totaled RMB 9268.3 billion (equivalent to USD 1306.3 billion), accounting for 52 percent. In the outstanding registered external debt in foreign currencies, the USD debt accounted for 83 percent, the Euro debt accounted for 7 percent, the HKD debt accounted for 4 percent, the JPY debt accounted for 4 percent, the SDR and other foreign currency-denominated external debt accounted for 2 percent.

Since all major external debt indicators were within the internationally recognized thresholds, China’s external debt risk is under control.

Appendix

Definition of terms and interpretations

External debt classification by maturity structure. There are two methods to classify the external debt by maturity structure. One is on the basis of the contractual maturity, i.e. it is classified as medium- and long-term external debt if the contractual maturity is over one year, and classified as short-term external debt if the contractual maturity is one year or less; the other is on the basis of the remaining maturity, i.e., on the basis of the contractual maturity 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 contractual maturity.

Trade-related credit is a broad concept. In addition to trade credit and advances, it also involves other kinds of credit provided for trade activities. According to its definition, trade-related credit includes trade credit and advances, bank trade financing, trade related bills, and so forth. In particular, trade credit and advances 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 of China), 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 prepayments made by buyers (e.g., overseas importers) for goods, services, and work that is in progress (or work 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.