As at the end of March 2026, China recorded RMB 16.6902 trillion in outstanding external debt denominated in both domestic and foreign currencies (equivalent to USD 2412.1billion, excluding thoseof 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 6921.4billion (equivalent to USD 1000.3billion), accounting for 41percent; while the outstanding short-term external debt was RMB 9768.8 billion (equivalent to USD 1411.8 billion), taking up 59 percent, of which 40 percent was trade-related credit.
In terms of institutional sectors, the outstanding debt of general government totaled RMB 2492.1 billion (equivalent to USD 360.2 billion), accounting for 15percent; the outstanding debt of the central bank totaled RMB 715.6 billion (equivalent to USD 103.4 billion), accounting for 4 percent; the outstanding debt of banks totaled RMB 6841.1 billion (equivalent to USD 988.7 billion), accounting for 41 percent; the outstanding debt of other sectors (including inter-company lending under direct investments) totaled RMB 6641.4 billion(equivalent to USD 959.8 billion), accounting for 40 percent.
In terms of debt instruments, the balance of loans was RMB 2336.4 billion (equivalent to USD 337.7 billion), accounting for 14 percent; the outstanding trade credits and advances was RMB 3115.8 billion (equivalent to USD 450.3 billion), accounting for 19 percent; the outstanding currency and deposits was RMB 3667.4 billion (equivalent to USD 530.0 billion), accounting for 22 percent; the outstanding debt securities was RMB 4534.7 billion (equivalent to USD 655.4billion), accounting for 27 percent; the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) allocation amounted to RMB 339.8 billion (equivalent to USD 49.1billion), accounting for 2 percent; the balance of inter-company lending under direct investments totaled RMB 1921.8 billion (equivalent to USD 277.7 billion),accounting for 11 percent; and the balance of other debt liabilities was RMB 774.3 billion (equivalent to USD 111.9 billion),accounting for 5 percent.
With respect to currency structures, the outstanding external debt in domestic currency totaled RMB 9242.8 billion (equivalent to USD 1335.8 billion), accounting for 55 percent; the outstanding external debt in foreign currencies (including SDR allocation) totaled RMB 7447.4 billion (equivalent to USD 1076.3 billion), accounting for 45 percent. In the outstanding registered external debt in foreign currencies, the USD debt accounted for 76 percent, the Euro debt accounted for 9 percent, the JPY debt accounted for 4 percent, the HKD debt accounted for 6 percent, the SDR and other foreign currency-denominated external debt accounted for 5 percent.
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 overone 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.
Annexed table：China’s Gross External Debt Position by Sector, End of March 2026 | ||
End of March 2026 | End of March 2026 | |
（Unit:100 million RMB） | （Unit:100million US dollars） | |
General Government | 24921 | 3602 |
Short-term | 27 | |
Currency and deposits | 0 | 0 |
Debt securities | 184 | 27 |
Loans | 0 | 0 |
Trade credit and advances | 0 | 0 |
Other debt liabilities | 0 | 0 |
Long-term | 24737 | 3575 |
Special drawing rights (allocations) | 0 | 0 |
Currency and deposits | 0 | 0 |
Debt securities | 21690 | 3135 |
Loans | 3047 | 440 |
Trade credit and advances | 0 | 0 |
Other debt liabilities | 0 | 0 |
Central Bank | 7156 | 1034 |
Short-term | 3339 | 482 |
Currency and deposits | 1546 | 223 |
Debt securities | 1793 | 259 |
Loans | 0 | 0 |
Trade credit and advances | 0 | 0 |
Other debt liabilities | 0 | 0 |
Long-term | 3817 | 552 |
Special drawing rights (allocations) | 3398 | 491 |
Currency and deposits | 0 | 0 |
Debt securities | 0 | 0 |
Loans | 0 | 0 |
Trade credit and advances | 0 | 0 |
Other debt liabilities | 419 | 61 |
Other Depository Corporations | 68411 | 9887 |
Short-term | 52122 | 7533 |
Currency and deposits | 29988 | 4334 |
Debt securities | 7463 | 1079 |
Loans | 14199 | 2052 |
Trade credit and advances | 0 | 0 |
Other debt liabilities | 473 | 68 |
Long-term | 16289 | 2354 |
Currency and deposits | 4093 | 592 |
Debt securities | 9481 | 1370 |
Loans | 2661 | 385 |
Trade credit and advances | 0 | 0 |
Other debt liabilities | 54 | 8 |
Other Sectors | 47196 | 6821 |
Short-term | 38200 | 5521 |
Currency and deposits | 1020 | 147 |
Debt securities | 731 | 106 |
Loans | 1349 | 195 |
Trade credit and advances | 30613 | 4424 |
Other debt liabilities | 4487 | 648 |
Long-term | 8996 | 1300 |
Currency and deposits | 28 | 4 |
Debt securities | 4005 | 579 |
Loans | 2108 | 305 |
Trade credit and advances | 545 | 79 |
Other debt liabilities | 2310 | 334 |
Direct Investment: Intercompany Lending | 19218 | 2777 |
Debt liabilities of direct investment enterprises to direct investors | 1803 | 260 |
Debt liabilities of direct investors to direct investment enterprises | 10765 | 1556 |
Debt liabilities to fellow enterprises | 6650 | 961 |
Gross External Debt Position | 166902 | 24121 |
Notes: 1. The short-term and long-term herein are broken down by contractual (original) maturity. 2. The data in this table have been rounded off.
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