As at the end of September 2023, China recorded RMB 17.104 trillion in outstanding external debt denominated in both domestic and foreign currencies (equivalent to USD 2382.9 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- and long-term external debt was RMB 7549.8 billion (equivalent to USD 1051.8 billion), accounting for 44 percent; while the outstanding short-term external debt was RMB 9554.2 billion (equivalent to USD 1331.1 billion), taking up 56 percent, of which 36 percent was trade-related credit.

In terms of institutional sectors, the outstanding debt of general government totaled RMB 2811.2 billion (equivalent to USD 391.7 billion), accounting for 16 percent; the outstanding debt of the central bank totaled RMB 789.7 billion (equivalent to USD 110 billion), accounting for 5 percent; the outstanding debt of banks totaled RMB 7116.7 billion (equivalent to USD 991.5 billion), accounting for 42 percent; the outstanding debt of other sectors (including inter-company lending under direct investments) totaled RMB 6386.4 billion (equivalent to USD 889.7 billion), accounting for 37 percent.

In terms of debt instruments, the balance of loans was RMB 2761.2 billion (equivalent to USD 384.7 billion), accounting for 16 percent; the outstanding trade credit and prepayment was RMB 2725.5 billion (equivalent to USD 379.7 billion), accounting for 16 percent; the outstanding currency and deposits was RMB 3647.4 billion (equivalent to USD 508.1 billion), accounting for 22 percent; the outstanding debt securities was RMB 4799.1 billion (equivalent to USD 668.6 billion), accounting for 28 percent; the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) allocation amounted to RMB 341.7 billion (equivalent to USD 47.6 billion), accounting for 2 percent; the balance of inter-company lending under direct investments totaled RMB 2104.2 billion (equivalent to USD 293.2 billion), accounting for 12 percent; and the balance of other debt liabilities was RMB 724.9 billion (equivalent to USD 101 billion), accounting for 4 percent.

With respect to currency structures, the outstanding external debt in domesticcurrency totaled RMB 7696.9 billion (equivalent to USD 1072.3 billion), accounting for 45 percent; the outstanding external debt in foreign currencies (including SDR allocation) totaled RMB 9407.1 billion (equivalent to USD 1310.6 billion), accounting for 55 percent. In the outstanding registered external debt in foreign currencies, the USD debt accounted for 84 percent, the Euro debt accounted for 7 percent, the HKD debt accounted for 4percent, the JPY debt accounted for 2 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 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 over one 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.