The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) recently released China's external debt data at the end of 2025. The SAFE Deputy Administrator and Press Spokesperson Li Bin answered media questions on relevant issues.

Q: How would you assess China's external debt in 2025?

A: China's external debt was generally stable in 2025. First, the scale of external debt experienced a steady decline. As of the end of 2025, the total outstanding external debt (comprising domestic and foreign currencies) stood at USD 2328.8 billion. This marked a decrease of USD 15.5 billion, equivalent to a 0.7% decline from the end of 2024. Second, the currency structure of external debt was optimized, while the maturity structure remained basically stable. With respect to currency structure, the external debt in domestic currency accounted for 55.5%, up by 1.4 percentage points from the end of 2024. Regarding maturity structure, the medium- and long-term external debt accounted for 43.5%, down by 0.6 percentage points from the end of 2024.

China's external debt risks were under control on the whole. By the end of 2025, the liability ratio (or the ratio of outstanding external debt to GDP) stood at 11.9%. The debt ratio (or the ratio of outstanding external debt to export revenue from trade) was 56.3%. The debt servicing ratio (or the ratio of the repayment of the principal and payment of interest on external debt to export revenue from trade) was 6.2%. The ratio of short-term external debt to foreign exchange reserves was 39.2%. These indicators were within internationally recognized thresholds (20%, 100%, 20% and 100%, respectively), indicating that China's external debt risks were generally controllable.