At the end of September 2009, China's outstanding external debt (excluding that of Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR, and Taiwan Province) reached USD 386.772 billion, an increase of USD 12.111 billion, or 3.23 percent compared with that at the end of 2008. Specifically, the outstanding long- and medium-term external debt (with the remaining term) reached USD 164.793 billion, an increase of USD 917 million, or 0.56 percent compared with that at the end of 2008, accounting for 42.61 percent of the total outstanding external debt. The outstanding short-term external debt (with the remaining term) totaled USD 221.979 billion, an increase of USD 11.194 billion, or 5.31 percent compared with that at the end of 2008, accounting for 57.39 percent of the total outstanding external debt. In terms of China's outstanding short-term external debt, the balance of trade credit was USD 132.5 billion. The outstanding registered short-term external debt (with the remaining term) was USD 89.479 billion, accounting for 40.31 percent of the outstanding short-term external debt and 23.13 percent of the total outstanding external debt.
Included in the outstanding registered external debt of USD 254.272 billion, the outstanding sovereign debt borrowed by ministries under the State Council totaled USD 35.232 billion, accounting for 13.86 percent;  the outstanding debt of Chinese-funded financial institutions was USD 87.018 billion, accounting for 34.22 percent;  the outstanding debt of foreign-funded enterprises was USD 92.262 billion, accounting for 36.28 percent; the outstanding debt of foreign-funded financial institutions in China was USD 35.154 billion, accounting for 13.83 percent;  the outstanding debt of Chinese-funded enterprises was USD 4.281 billion, accounting for 1.68 percent;  and the outstanding debt of other institutions was USD 325 million, accounting for 0.13 percent.
From January to September 2009, long- and medium-term external borrowing totaled USD 13.845 billion, a decrease of USD 13.535 billion, or 49.43 percent compared with that in the same period of the last year. Repayment of principal was USD 25.959 billion, an increase of USD 12.175 billion, or 88.33 percent, over that during the same period of the last year. Interest payments for long- and medium-term external debt totaled USD 2.563 billion, a decrease of USD 393 million, or 13.29 percent compared with that during the same period of the last year.