As at the end of June 2022, China recorded RMB 17.691 trillion in outstanding external debt denominated in both domestic and foreign currencies (equivalent to USD 2636 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-andlong-term external debt was RMB 8091 billion (equivalent to USD1205.6 billion), accounting for 46 percent; while the outstanding short-term external debt was RMB 9600 billion (equivalent to USD 1430.4 billion), taking up 54 percent,of which 38 percent was trade-related credit.

In terms of institutional sectors, the outstanding debt of general government totaled RMB 3046.5 billion (equivalent to USD 453.9 billion), accounting for 17 percent; the outstanding debt of the central bank totaled RMB 534.3 billion(equivalent to USD 79.6 billion), accounting for 3 percent; the outstanding debt of banks totaled RMB 7619.4 billion (equivalent to USD 1135.3 billion), accounting for 43 percent; the outstanding debt of other sectors (including inter-company lending under direct investments) totaled RMB 6490.8 billion (equivalent to USD 967.1 billion), accounting for 37 percent.

In terms of debt instruments, the balance of loans was RMB 2828.9 billion (equivalent to USD 421.5 billion), accounting for 16 percent; the outstanding trade credit and prepayment was RMB 2592 billion (equivalent to USD 386.2 billion), accounting for 15 percent; the outstanding currency and deposits was RMB 3908.6 billion (equivalent to USD 582.4 billion), accounting for 22 percent; the outstanding debt securities was RMB 5269.1 billion (equivalent to USD 785.1 billion), accounting for 30 percent; the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) allocation amounted to RMB 322.6 billion (equivalent to USD 48.1 billion), accounting for 2 percent; the balance of inter-company lending under direct investments totaled RMB 2122.2 billion (equivalent to USD 316.2 billion), accounting for 12 percent; and the balance of other debt liabilities was RMB 647.6 billion (equivalent to USD 96.5 billion), accounting for 3 percent.

With respect to currency structures, the outstanding external debt in domestic currency totaled RMB 7725.9 billion (equivalent to USD 1151.2 billion), accounting for 44 percent;the outstanding external debt in foreign currencies (including SDR allocation) totaled RMB 9965.1 billion (equivalent to USD 1484.8 billion), accounting for 56 percent. In the outstandingregistered external debt in foreign currencies, the USD debt accounted for 85 percent, the Euro debtaccounted for 7 percent, the HKD debt accounted for 4 percent, the JPY debt accounted for 1 percent, the SDR and other foreign currency-denominated external debt accounted for 3 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 classificationby maturity structure. Thereare two methods to classify the external debt by maturitystructure. Oneis on the basis of the contractual maturity, i.e. it is classified asmedium- and long-term external debt if the contractualmaturity is overone year, and classified as short-term external debt if the contractualmaturity isone year or less;the other is on the basis of the remaining maturity, i.e., on the basis of thecontractual maturity classification method above, the medium- and long-termexternal debt due within one year is classified as short-term external debt. Inthis news release, external debt is divided into medium- and long-term externaldebt and short-term external debt based on the contractual maturity.

Trade-relatedcredit is a broad concept. In addition to trade credit and advances, it also involvesother kinds of credit provided for trade activities. According to its definition,trade-related credit includes trade credit and advances, bank trade financing, traderelated bills, and so forth. In particular, trade credit and advances refer to external liability arising fromdirectly extending credit between the seller and buyer of goods transactions,specifically transactions between residents in the Chinese Mainland andoverseas non-residents (including non-residents in Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR,and Taiwan Province of China), i.e., the debt incurred due to the differencebetween the time of payment and the time of the goods ownership transfer, whichincludecredit directly provided by the supplier (e.g., the overseas exporter)for goods and services, and prepayments made by buyers (e.g., overseasimporters) for goods, services, and work that is in progress (or work to beundertaken). Bank trade financing refers to trade related loans that offered by a third party (e.g., banks) toexporters or importers, for instance, loans extended by foreign financialinstitutions or export credit agencies to buyers.