As at the end of June 2020, China recorded RMB 15.0964 trillion in outstanding external debt denominated in both domestic and foreign currencies (equivalent to USD 2.1324 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 6.4352 trillion (USD 909 billion), accounting for 43%; while the outstanding short-term external debt was RMB 8.6612 trillion (USD 1.2234 trillion), taking up 57%, including 39% trade-related credit.

In terms of institutions and sectors, the outstanding debt of government totaled RMB 2.088 trillion (USD 294.9 billion), accounting for 14%; the outstanding debt of the central bank totaled RMB 282.5 billion(USD 39.9 billion), accounting for 2%; the outstanding debt of banks totaled RMB 7.0348 trillion (USD 993.7 billion), taking up 46%; the outstanding debt of other sectors (including inter-company lending under direct investments) totaled RMB 5.6911 trillion (USD 803.9 billion), taking up 38%;

In terms of debt instruments, the outstanding of loans was RMB 3.3696 trillion (USD 476 billion), accounting for 22%; the outstanding of trade credit and prepayment was RMB 2.2945 trillion (USD 324.1 billion), accounting for 15%; the outstanding of currency and deposits was RMB 3.2072 trillion (USD 453 billion), accounting for 21%; the outstanding of debt securities was RMB 4.0123 trillion (USD 566.7 billion), accounting for 27%; the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) allocation amounted to RMB 67.9 billion (USD 9.6 billion), accounting for 0.5%. The outstanding debt of inter-company lending under direct investments totaled RMB 1.7324 trillion (USD 244.7 billion), accounting for 11.5%; and the outstanding of other debt liabilities was RMB 412.5 billion (USD 58.3 billion), accounting for 3%.

With respect to currency structures, the outstanding external debt in domestic currency totaled RMB 5.6899 trillion (USD 803.7 billion), accounting for 38%; the outstanding external debt in foreign currencies (including SDR allocation) totaled RMB 9.4065 trillion (USD 1.3287 trillion), accounting for 62%. In the total outstanding registered external debt in foreign currencies, the USD debt accounted for 84%, the Euro debtaccounted for 7%, the HKD debt accounted for 4%, the JPY debt accounted for 2%, the SDR and other foreign currency-denominated external debt accounted for 3%.

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

For the interpretation of China's outstanding external debt data at the end of June 2020, please refer to the "China's Balance of Payments Report for the First Half of 2020(in Chinese)".

Appendix

Definition of terms and interpretations

External debt classification by term structure. There are two methods to classify the external debt byterm 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.