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To facilitate public understanding of Chinese circumstances regarding cross-border fund flows, especially the scale, channels, and influence of abnormal cross-border fund flows, the group for the analysis of the balance of payments of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) recently issued the Report on the Monitoring of Chinas Cross-border Fund Flows in 2010 (hereinafter referred to as the Report). The Report provides a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the general conditions and major items in Chinas cross-border fund flows during the period from 2001 to 2010, in terms of the balance of payments, the cross-border receipts and payments, and the settlement and sales of foreign exchange. The Report states that since implementation of the reform and opening-up policy, China has seen rapid development of its foreign-related economy. Economic contacts have increased and the size of the cross-border fund flows has multiplied. The sizable net inflows of cross-border funds are basically commensurate with the development of the real economy. Although there have been frequent occurrences of small inflows of illegal hot money, centralized and large-scale fund inflows of hot moneythrough legitimate financial institutions have not been found. The Report estimates the size of Chinas hot moneyflows. During the past 10 years, the trade surplus, the net inflow of direct investment, the return on overseas investment, overseas listings of domestic enterprises, and other legitimate foreign-related economic activities in compliance with the regulations basically accounted for the countrys increase in foreign exchange reserves. So far, the sustained net inflows of cross-border funds are deemed to be the result of the countrys rapid and steady economic growth. Arbitrage conducted by institutions and individuals featuring conversion of assets into the home currency and liabilities into the foreign currencies has, in part, increased the volatility of cross-border fund flows. The Report states that the orientation toward a basic equilibrium in the balance of payments is explicitly one of the major goals of economic and social development during the 12th Five-Year Plan according to the Proposal of the CPC Central Committee on Formulating the 12th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development. The country will promote a basic equilibrium in the balance of payments by speeding up economic restructuring, expanding domestic demand (particularly consumer demand), reducing the surplus in the balance of payments, as well as broadening the channels for fund outflows. The country will concentrate on the scientific development of economy and society as well as on acceleration of the transformation of the economic growth model in order to achieve that aim. The Report states that maintaining an equilibrium and the steady development of the macro-economy, perfecting macro-economic control measures, and improving the financial market system are of fundamental importance to avert the impacts of cross-border capital flows. Chinas capital controls have played a vital role in combating the global financial crisis as well as in maintaining the stability of the foreign-related economy and finance. With the deepening of the open economy, there have been increasing challenges to the monitoring of cross-border fund flows. During recent years, active efforts have been made by the foreign exchange authorities to establish a framework to balance foreign exchange administration, to moderately tighten the policies on foreign exchange collection and settlement and external debt management, to struggle against the inflow of illegal funds, and to broaden the channels for fund outflows. The foreign exchange authorities will continue to keep a close eye on cross-border fund flows, strengthen supervision of the regulatory compliance of cross-border fund flows, broaden the channels for the outflow of foreign exchange funds, diversify instruments to avoid exchange-rate risks, improve plans to guard against the risks, and take active steps to prevent and defuse the risks caused by cross-border fund flows. The group for analysis of the balance of payments of the SAFE will issue a Report on the Monitoring of Chinas Cross-border Fund Flows on a yearly basis. To facilitate public understanding of Chinas circumstances regarding cross-border fund flows, the SAFE will, based on monthly release of data on aggregate cross-border receipts and payments and foreign exchange settlement and sales by banks on behalf of their clients, make public the time-series data categorized based on the transaction items about the aforesaid operations during the period from 2001 to 2010, and will publicize data on detailed items on a monthly basis as of February 2011. 2011-02-17/en/2011/0217/985.html
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Initial estimations reveal that in Q4 of 2010 the current account and the capital and financial account (including net errors and omissions) continued to post a surplus and international reserves maintained their growing momentum. In Q4, the surplus under the current account totaled USD102.2 billion, a year-on-year increase of 13 percent as calculated on a comparable basis (the same below). Specifically, the surpluses in goods, income, and current transfers reached USD82.9 billion, USD9.5 billion, and USD12.3 billion, respectively, whereas the deficit in trade in services amounted to USD2.4 billion Meanwhile, China's surplus under the capital and financial account (including net errors and omissions) totaled USD83.5 billion. In particular, net inflows of direct investments amounted to USD43.3 billion. International reserves assets posted an increase of USD185.7 billion, a year-on-year increase of 49 percent. Specifically, transactions in foreign exchange reserve assets registered an increase of USD185.3 billion (exclusive of the influence of changes in value due to non-transaction factors such as exchange rates and prices) and the reserve position in the IMF registered an increase of USD400 million. In 2010, China's surplus under the current account totaled USD306.2 billion, an increase of 25 percent compared with that in the previous year. The surplus under the capital and financial account (including net errors and omissions) totaled USD165.6 billion. International reserve assets posted an increase of USD471.7 billion, an increase of 18 percent compared with that in the previous year. Balance of Payments 1 (Preliminary Data) Unit: USD100 million Item # Q4 of 2010 Year 20102 I. Current Account 1 1022 3062 A. Goods and Services 2 805 2360 a. Goods 3 829 2540 Credit 4 4445 15815 Debit 5 3616 13275 b. Services 6 -24 -180 B. Income 7 95 277 C. Current Transfers 8 123 425 II. Capital and Financial Account3 9 835 1656 Incl.: Direct investment 10 433 1298 III. Reserve Assets 11 -1857 -4717 3.1 Monetary Gold 12 0 0 3.2 Special Drawing Rights 13 0 -1 3.3 Reserves Position in the Fund 14 -4 -21 3.4 Foreign Exchange 15 -1853 -4696 3.5 Other Claims 16 0 0 Notes: 1. This statement employs rounded-off numbers. 2. The preliminary data for 2010 equal the sum total of the revised data for the first three quarters of 2010 and the preliminary data for Q4 of 2010. 3. The data under the capital and financial account in this statement equal the difference between the current account balance and the amount of change in reserve assets, including net errors and omissions. 2011-01-31/en/2011/0131/982.html
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According to statistical data released by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), in 2010 the amount of foreign exchange settlement and sales by banks on behalf of clients amounted to USD1330.4 billion and USD932.7 billion respectively. The surplus amounted to USD397.7 billion. In December 2010, the amount of foreign exchange settlement and sales by banks on behalf of clients amounted to USD146.2 billion and USD94.7 billion respectively. The surplus amounted to USD51.5 billion. In the same year, foreign-related receipts and payments by banks on behalf of clients amounted to USD1885.3 billion and USD1587.3 billion respectively; and the surplus of foreign-related receipts and payments reached USD298 billion. The top 5 currencies in terms of aggregate foreign-related receipts and payments for the year were: USD (83.18%), Euro (5.41%), HKD (5.12%), JPY (3.08%), and RMB (1.69%). In December 2010, foreign-related receipts and payments by banks on behalf of clients amounted to USD212 billion and USD183 billion respectively and the surplus reached USD29 billion. Appendix: Definition of terms and interpretation. Balance of payments (BOP) refers to all economic transactions occurring between residents and non-residents in China, including all financial transactions and barter transactions resulting in any changes to assets and liabilities between them. Foreign exchange settlement and sales by banks on behalf of clients refers to the business of foreign exchange settlement and sales conducted by designated foreign exchange banks for their clients, excluding data on foreign exchange settlement and sales conducted by designated foreign exchange banks on their own behalf and data on inter-bank foreign exchange market transactions. The time when the conversion between the Renminbi and the foreign currency occurs shall be regarded as the time point for the statistics. Specifically, settlement of foreign exchange is the process by which the owners of the foreign exchange sell the exchange to the designated foreign exchange banks; the sale of foreign exchange is the process by which the exchange is sold by the designated foreign exchange banks to the users of the foreign exchange. The balance between the settlement and sales of foreign exchange is the offset balance between the settlement and sales of foreign exchange, which will be balanced by the banks through bank transactions on the inter-bank foreign exchange market. This is the major reason for changes in the amount of foreign exchange reserves, which is not equivalent to the net change in foreign exchange reserves during the same period. The banks settlements and sales of foreign exchange for clients are not counted in compliance with the principle applicable to transactions between residents and non-residents, which only includes transactions between banks and their clients in domestic and foreign currencies, i.e., exchanges and transactions between RMB and foreign exchange. Their statistical scope differs from that of the transactions under the balance of payments. Foreign-related receipts and payments by banks on behalf of clients refers to receipts and payments occurring between domestic non-bank resident institutions/ individuals (collectively called the non-bank section) and non-resident institutions/individuals through domestic banks, exclusive of the receipts and payments in cash and foreign-related receipts and payments by the banks themselves. They include: cross-border collections and payments between non-bank sections and non-residents through domestic banks (including RMB and foreign exchange), and domestic collections and payments between non-bank sections and non-residents through domestic banks (currently including collections and payments in foreign exchange and collections and payments in RMB under the RMB settlement item for cross-border trade). The statistics are collected at the time when the clients conduct the foreign-related collections and payments at the domestic banks. Specifically, foreign-related collections by banks for their clients refer to funds collected by non-bank sections from non-residents via domestic banks; the banksexternal payments for their clients refer to the funds paid by non-bank sections to non-residents through domestic banks. Although foreign-related collections and payments by banks for their clients constitute an integral part of the balance of payment statistics, they differ, in principle, from the balance of payment statistics. The capital receipt and payment system is the statistical principle for the banksforeign-related collections and payments for their clients, whereas the accrual basis is the statistical principle for the balance of payments. The banksforeign-related collections and payments for their clients only reflect the cash flows between domestic non-bank sections and non-residents and do not reflect barters and foreign-related transactions conducted by the banks themselves, and their statistical scope is smaller than that of the balance of payments. 2011-01-27/en/2011/0127/980.html
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Initial estimates reveal that in Q3 of 2010 the current account and the capital and financial account (including net errors and omissions) continued to post a surplus and international reserves maintained a growing momentum. In Q3, the surplus under the current account totaled USD102.3 billion, a year-on-year increase of 103 percent as calculated on a comparable basis (the same below). Specifically, the surpluses in goods, income, and current transfers reached USD81.4 billion, USD14.5 billion, and USD10.8 billion, respectively, whereas the deficit in trade in services amounted to USD4.4 billion Meanwhile, China's surplus under the capital and financial account (including net errors and omissions) totaled USD5.7 billion. In particular, net inflows of direct investments amounted to USD23 billion. International reserve assets posted an increase of USD108 billion, a rise of 31 percent. Specifically, transactions in foreign exchange reserve assets registered an increase of USD107.3 billion (exclusive of the influence of non-transaction changes in value such as exchange rates and prices) and the reserve position in the IMF registered an increase of USD700 million. In the first three quarters of 2010, China's surplus under the current account totaled USD204 billion, an increase of 30 percent year on year; the surplus under the capital and financial account (including net errors and omissions) totaled USD82.1 billion; and international reserve assets posted an increase of USD286 billion, a rise of 7 percent year on year. 2010-11-25/en/2010/1125/968.html
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According to the statistical data released by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), in November 2010 the amount of foreign exchange settlements and foreign exchange sales by banks on behalf of clients amounted to USD129.7 billion and USD84.4 billion respectively. The foreign exchange settlement and sales surplus was USD45.3 billion. In the month of November, foreign-related receipts and payments of domestic banks on behalf of clients amounted to USD183.5 billion and USD151.8 billion respectively; and the foreign-related receipts and payments surplus reached USD31.7 billion. 2010-12-24/en/2010/1224/971.html
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According to the statistical data released by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), in October 2010 the amount of foreign exchange settlement and sales by banks on behalf of clients amounted to USD125.3 billion and USD67.7 billion respectively. The surplus of foreign exchange settlement and sales amounted to USD57.6 billion. During the month, foreign-related receipts and payments by domestic banks on behalf of clients amounted to USD166.4 billion and USD127.2 billion respectively. The surplus of foreign-related receipts and payments reached USD39.2 billion. 2010-11-30/en/2010/1130/969.html
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According to statistical data released by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), in January 2011 the amount of foreign exchange settlement and sales by banks on behalf of clients amounted to USD150.3 billion and USD81.9 billion respectively. The surplus of foreign exchange settlement and sales by banks on behalf of clients amounted to USD68.4 billion. During the month, foreign-related receipts and payments by domestic banks on behalf of clients amounted to USD186.7 billion and USD150.7 billion respectively, and the surplus of foreign-related receipts and payments reached USD36 billion. 2011-03-04/en/2011/0304/986.html
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The SAFE recently released Chinas International Investment Position for the year 2009. The statistics reveal that at the end of 2009, China's external financial assets hit USD3460.1 billion, up 17 percent over that at the end of 2008; external financial liabilities reached USD1638.1 billion, a rise of 12 percent year on year; external net financial assets totaled USD1821.9 billion, an increase of 22 percent year on year. Among the external financial assets, direct investments abroad totaled USD229.6 billion, portfolio investments totaled USD242.8 billion, other investments totaled USD536.5 billion, and reserves assets reached USD2451.3 billion, accounting for 7 percent, 7 percent, 16 percent, and 71 percent of external financial assets respectively. In terms of external financial liabilities, foreign direct investments totaled USD997.4 billion, portfolio investments USD190 billion, and other investments USD450.8 billion, accounting for 61 percent, 12 percent, and 28 percent of external financial liabilities respectively. The International Investment Position (hereinafter referred to as the IIP) is a statistical statement which reflects at a specific point the stocks of financial assets and liabilities of one country or region to other countries or regions in the world; together with the Balance of Payments Statement (BOP statement) it constitutes the complete international accounts system of the country or region indicating the trade flows. The SAFE adjusted its IIP from 2004 to 2008 according to the latest data. China's International Investment Position Unit: 100 million US dollars Items End of 2004 End of 2005 End of 2006 End of 2007 End of 2008 End of 2009 Net Position 2764 4077 6402 11881 14938 18219 A. Assets 9291 12233 16905 24162 29567 34601 1. Direct Investments Abroad 527 645 906 1160 1857 2296 2. Portfolio Investment 920 1167 2652 2846 2525 2428 2.1 Equity Securities 0 0 15 196 214 546 2.2 Debt Securities 920 1167 2637 2650 2311 1882 3. Other Investment 1658 2164 2539 4683 5523 5365 3.1 Trade Credits 432 661 922 1160 1102 1646 3.2 Loans 590 719 670 888 1071 942 3.3 Currency and Deposits 553 675 736 1380 1529 1409 3.4 Other Assets 83 109 210 1255 1821 1368 4. Reserves Assets 6186 8257 10808 15473 19662 24513 4.1 Monetary Gold 41 42 123 170 169 371 4.2 Special Drawing Rights 12 12 11 12 12 125 4.3 Reserves Position in the Fund 33 14 11 8 20 25 4.4 Foreign Exchange 6099 8189 10663 15282 19460 23992 B. Liabilities 6527 8156 10503 12281 14629 16381 1. Foreign Direct Investments 3690 4715 6144 7037 9155 9974 2. Portfolio Investment 566 766 1207 1466 1677 1900 2.1 Equity Securities 433 636 1065 1290 1505 1748 2.2 Debt Securities 133 130 142 176 172 152 3. Other Investment 2271 2675 3152 3778 3796 4508 3.1 Trade Credits 809 1063 1196 1487 1296 1617 3.2 Loans 880 870 985 1033 1030 1114 3.3 Currency and Deposits 381 484 595 791 918 1034 3.4 Other Liabilities 200 257 377 467 552 742 Note: 1. This IIP employs rounded-off numbers. 2. Net position refers to assets minus liabilities, + refers to net assets, and -refers to net liabilities. Compilation Principles and Indexes for the IIP I. Compilation Principles for the IIP In accordance with the standards of the Balance of Payments Manual (Fifth Edition) published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the IIP is a statistical statement which reflects at a specific point the stocks of financial assets and liabilities of one country or region to other countries or regions of the world. Changes in the IIP can be caused by changes in transactions, prices, or exchange rates, as well as by other adjustments during a specific period. The IIP is consistent with the BOP statement with regard to the principles of valuation, measurement, and conversion, and together with the BOP Statement constitutes a complete international accounts system of the country or region. Chinas IIP is a statistical statement which reflects at a specific point the stocks of financial assets and liabilities of China (excluding that of Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR, and Taiwan Province) to other countries or regions of the world. II. Explanation of the Major IIP Indexes According to IMF standards items on the IIP are categorized according to assets and liabilities. Assets are divided into China's direct investments abroad, portfolio investments, other investments, and reserves assets, and liabilities are divided into foreign direct investments, portfolio investments, and other investments. The net position refers to external assets minus external liabilities. The items are specifically defined as follows: 1. Direct Investment refers to external investment whereby an investor of one country operates an enterprise located in another country with the aim of acquiring effective control over the enterprise. It consists of direct investment abroad and foreign direct investment. Direct investment abroad includes the stocks of the direct investment abroad conducted by China's non-financial sectors, the stocks of the capital fund and working capital allocated by domestic banks to set up branches overseas, as well as the stocks of loans between the parent companies and the subsidiaries both in China and abroad, and the stocks of other receivables and payables. Foreign direct investment includes the stocks of foreign direct investment absorbed by Chinas non-financial sectors, the stocks of direct investment overseas absorbed by the financial sectors (including foreign investment attracted by branches of foreign financial sectors and Chinese-funded financial sectors, and investments by foreign parties in joint financial sectors), as well as the stocks of loans between the parent companies and the subsidiaries both in China and abroad, and the stocks of other receivables and payables. 2. Portfolio Investment includes some types of investment such as shares, long- and medium-term bonds, and money-market instruments. Portfolio investment assets refer to holdings of negotiable securities, such as shares, bonds, money-market instruments, and derivative financial instruments, which are held by Chinese residents but issued by non-resident enterprises. Portfolio investment liabilities refer to shares and bonds held by non-resident enterprises but issued by resident enterprises. 2.1 Equity Securities consist of securities in the form of stocks. 2.2 Debt Securities include long- and medium-term bonds, short-term (one year or less) bonds, and money-market instruments or transferable debt instruments, such as short-term treasury notes, commercial papers, and large-sum short-term negotiable certificates of deposits. 3. Other Investment refers to all financial assets and liabilities, including trade credits, loans, currency, and deposits, as well as other assets and liabilities, but excluding direct investments, portfolio investments, and reserves assets. Long term refers to a contract period for the relevant financial assets/liabilities that is longer than one year, whereas short term refers to a contract period that is one year or less. 3.1 Trade Credits refer to direct business credit arising from the import and export of goods between China and other countries. Assets refer to the receivables of China's exporters and the advance payments by Chinas importers, and liabilities refer to the payables of Chinas importers and the advance receipts of China's exporters. 3.2 Loans refer to the external assets held by domestic institutions by providing loans and lending to overseas institutions; and liabilities refer to loans borrowed by domestic institutions, such as loans from foreign governments, loans from international institutions, loans from foreign banks, and sellerscredit. 3.3 Currency and Deposits. Assets refer to the funds deposited abroad and the foreign cash in stock held by China's financial institutions; and liabilities refer to overseas private deposits and short-term funds from foreign banks absorbed by China's financial institutions, as well as other short-term funds, for instance loans from foreign exporters and individuals. 3.4 Other Assets or Liabilities refer to investments other than trade credits, loans, currency, and deposits, for example, capital paid by non-currency international institutions and other receivables and payables. 4. Reserves Assets refer to external assets that can be used at any time and are effectively controlled by the PBOC, consisting of monetary gold, special drawing rights (SDRs), the reserves position in the fund, and foreign exchange. 4.1 Monetary Gold: refers to the gold held by the PBOC as reserve. 4.2 Special Drawing Rights is a type of ledger assets, which is allocated by the IMF according to the capital share of its members; it can be used to repay debt to the IMF and can make up for a deficit in the balance of payments between the governments of member countries. 4.3 Reserves Position in the Fund refers to assets in the ordinary accounts of the IMF that can be used freely. 4.4 Foreign Exchange refers to current assets and liabilities that are retained by the PBOC and that can be used as a means of international compensation. 2010-05-04/en/2010/0504/929.html
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The SAFE recently released revised data for China's 2009 Balance of Payments Statement. The statistics reveal that the current account and the capital and financial account continued to post a "twin surplus" in 2009. In 2009, China's surplus under the current account totaled USD 297.1 billion, a decrease of 32 percent compared with that of the previous year. Specifically, according to the statistical coverage of the balance of payments, the surpluses in goods, income, and current transfers reached USD 249.5 billion, USD 43.3 billion, and USD 33.7 billion, respectively, whereas the deficit in services amounted to USD 29.4 billion. In 2009, the surplus under the capital and financial account totaled USD 144.8 billion, a 6.64-fold increase over that in the previous year. In particular, net inflows of direct investments, portfolio investments, and other investments amounted to USD 34.3 billion, USD 38.7 billion, and USD 67.9 billion respectively. China's international reserves assets from transactions increased by USD 398.4 billion. Specifically, foreign exchange reserves assets registered a net increase of USD 382.1 billion (exclusive of the influence of the change in the value of non-transaction factors such as the exchange rates, prices, and so forth), whereas special drawing rights, the reserve position in the IMF, and monetary gold posted increases of USD 11.1 billion, USD 0.4 billion, and USD 4.9 billion respectively. Following the release of these data, in compliance with international conventions data on the foreign exchange reserves assets in Chinas Balance of Payments Statement will only record changes in transactions; changes in the value of the reserves assets due to non-transaction factors, such as exchange rates and prices, will be reflected in the International Investment Position. The SAFE has made retroactive adjustments to the data in the Balance of Payments Statements since 2003 according to the above specifications and is releasing them simultaneously with this statement (see the attachment). In addition, the BOP Analysis Team of the SAFE released China's Balance of Payments Report for 2009 in order to facilitate an understanding of the data and analysis of China's balance of payments among all groups in the society. China's Balance of Payments Statement 2009 Unit: USD 100 million Items # Balance Credit Debit I. Current Account 1 2,971 14,846 11,874 A. Goods and Services 2 2,201 13,333 11,132 a. Goods 3 2,495 12,038 9,543 b. Services 4 -294 1,295 1,589 1.Transportation 5 -230 236 466 2.Travel 6 -40 397 437 3.Communications Services 7 0 12 12 4.Construction Services 8 36 95 59 5.Insurance Services 9 -97 16 113 6.Financial Services 10 -3 4 7 7.Computer and Information Services 11 33 65 32 8.Royalties and Licensing Fees 12 -106 4 111 9.Consulting Services 13 52 186 134 10.Advertising and Public Opinion Polling 14 4 23 20 11.Audio-visual and Related Services 15 -2 1 3 12. Other Business Services 16 59 247 188 13. Government Services, n.i.e. 17 1 9 8 B. Income 18 433 1,086 653 1.Employee Compensation 19 72 92 21 2.Investment Income 20 361 994 632 C. Current Transfers 21 337 426 89 1.General Government 22 -2 0 3 2.Other Sectors 23 340 426 86 II. Capital and Financial Account 24 1,448 7,464 6,016 A. Capital Account 25 40 42 2 B. Financial Account 26 1,409 7,422 6,014 1. Direct Investment 27 343 1,142 799 1.1 Abroad 28 -439 42 481 1.2 In China 29 782 1,100 318 2. Portfolio Investment 30 387 981 594 2.1 Assets 31 99 669 570 2.1.1 Equity Securities 32 -338 122 461 2.1.2 Debt Securities 33 437 547 110 2.1.2.1 Bonds and Notes 34 370 479 110 2.1.2.2 Money Market Instruments 35 67 68 0 2.2 Liabilities 36 288 312 24 2.2.1 Equity Securities 37 282 288 7 2.2.2 Debt Securities 38 6 23 17 2.2.2.1 Bonds and Notes 39 6 23 17 2.2.2.2 Money Market Instruments 40 0 0 0 3. Other Investment 41 679 5,299 4,620 3.1 Assets 42 94 1,174 1,080 3.1.1 Trade Credits 43 -544 0 544 Long-term 44 -38 0 38 Short-term 45 -506 0 506 3.1.2 Loans 46 130 450 320 Long-term 47 -315 0 315 Short-term 48 445 450 5 3.1.3 Currency and Deposits 49 52 267 216 3.1.4 Other Assets 50 456 457 1 Long-term 51 0 0 0 Short-term 52 456 457 1 3.2 Liabilities 53 585 4,125 3,540 3.2.1 Trade Credits 54 321 321 0 Long-term 55 22 22 0 Short-term 56 298 298 0 3.2.2 Loans 57 37 3,222 3,185 Long-term 58 -97 135 232 Short-term 59 134 3,087 2,953 3.2.3 Currency and Deposits 60 116 456 340 3.2.4 Other Liabilities 61 111 126 15 Long-term 62 110 110 0 Short-term 63 1 16 15 III. Reserves Assets 64 -3,984 0 3,984 3.1 Monetary Gold 65 -49 0 49 3.2 Special Drawing Rights 66 -111 0 111 3.3 Reserves Position in the Fund 67 -4 0 4 3.4 Foreign Exchange 68 -3,821 0 3,821 3.5 Other Claims 69 0 0 0 IV. Net Errors and Omissions 70 -435 0 435 1. This statement employs rounded-off numbers. 2. After this release, according to international convention, the SAFE has made adjustments to the methods for recording the reserves assets, i.e., only changes in reserves assets due to transactions will be recorded in the balance of payments statement, which will be exclusive of changes in the value of reserves assets due to non-transaction factors such as exchange rates and prices. 2010-04-19/en/2010/0419/926.html
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At the end of 2009, China's outstanding external debt (excluding that of Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR, and Taiwan Province) reached USD 428.647 billion, of which the outstanding registered external debt was USD 266.947 billion and the balance of trade credit was USD 161.7 billion.Note According to comparable specifications, the outstanding long- and medium-term external debt (with the remaining term) was USD 169.388 billion, accounting for 39.52 percent of the total outstanding external debt. The outstanding short-term external debt (with the remaining term) was USD 259.259 billion, accounting for 60.48 percent of the outstanding external debt. In terms of China's outstanding short-term external debt, the balance of trade credit was USD 161.7 billion. The outstanding registered short-term external debt (with the remaining term) was USD 97.559 billion, accounting for 37.63 percent of the outstanding short-term external debt and 22.76 percent of the total outstanding external debt. Of the outstanding registered external debt of USD 266.947 billion, the outstanding sovereign debt borrowed by ministries under the State Council totaled USD 36.855 billion, accounting for 13.81 percent; the outstanding debt of Chinese-funded financial institutions was USD 94.079 billion, accounting for 35.24 percent; the outstanding debt of foreign-funded enterprises was USD 93.181 billion, accounting for 34.91 percent; the outstanding debt of foreign-funded financial institutions in China was USD 38.34 billion, accounting for 14.36 percent; the outstanding debt of Chinese-funded enterprises was USD 4.184 billion, accounting for 1.57 percent; and the outstanding debt of other institutions was USD 308 million, accounting for 0.11 percent. The amount of long- and medium-term external debt in 2009 was USD 22.445 billion, a decrease of USD 13.862 billion or 38.18 percent from that during the previous year. The principal repayment of long- and medium-term external debt was USD 34.186 billion, an increase of USD 10.895 billion, or 46.78 percent over that in the previous year. The interest payment of long- and medium-term external debt was USD 3629 million, a decrease of USD 525 million or 12.64 percent from that in the previous year. In 2009, in terms of types of debt, international commercial loans constituted the majority of Chinas external debt. The balance of international commercial loans amounted to USD 198.649 billion at year-end 2009, accounting for 74.42 percent of the outstanding registered external debt; the balance of foreign government loans and loans granted by international financial organizations amounted to USD 68.298 billion, accounting for 25.58 percent of the outstanding registered external debt. In terms of the currency structure, debt in U.S. dollars constituted the majority of Chinas external debt in 2009. Of the total registered external debt at year-end 2009, debt in U.S. dollars accounted for 67.76 percent, debt in Japanese yen accounted for 11.89 percent, and debt in Euro was 6.38 percent; other debts, including SDRs and Hong Kong dollars, accounted for 13.97 percent of the total. The medium- and long-term debt was mainly absorbed by the manufacturing sector and the construction of infrastructure such as communications and transportation sector, warehousing, postal-service facilities, and so on. According to the industrial classifications of the national economy, of the USD 188.138 billion of outstanding registered medium- and long-term external debt (based on contract terms), USD 39.082 billion was channeled to the manufacturing sector, accounting for 20.77 percent of the total; USD 23.783 billion was absorbed by the communications and transportation sector, the warehousing sector, and the postal-service sector, accounting for 12.64 percent of the total; USD 16.564 billion went to the production and supply of electric power, coal, gas, and water, accounting for 8.80 percent; USD 12.231 billion was absorbed by the information technology services sector, accounting for 6.50 percent; and USD 11.825 billion was channeled to the real estate sector, accounting for 6.29 percent. Initial calculations reveal that the debt service ratio in 2009 was 2.87 percent, the ratio of outstanding external debt to foreign exchange income was 32.16 percent, the ratio of outstanding external debt to GDP was 8.73 percent, and the ratio of short-term external debt to foreign exchange reserves was 10.81 percent. All of these indicators are within the safe range of international standards. Note Adjustments have been made to the sampling survey method for trade credit in 2009. According to the new method, the balance of trade credit at year-end 2009 was USD 161.7 billion. To ensure data comparability, the balance of trade credit at year-end 2008 was adjusted to USD 129.6 billion (the pre-adjustment amount was USD 114.1 billion). 2010-04-06/en/2010/0406/925.html