As at the end of 2023, China recorded RMB 17.3352 trillion in outstanding external debt denominated in both domestic and foreign currencies (equivalent to USD 2447.5 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 7682.6 billion (equivalent to USD 1084.7 billion), accounting for 44 percent; while the outstanding short-term external debt was RMB 9652.6 billion (equivalent to USD 1362.8 billion), taking up 56 percent, of which 35 percent was trade-related credit.

In terms of institutional sectors, the outstanding debt of general government totaled RMB 3077.5 billion (equivalent to USD 434.5 billion), accounting for 18 percent; the outstanding debt of the central bank totaled RMB 759.3 billion (equivalent to USD 107.2 billion), accounting for 4 percent; the outstanding debt of banks totaled RMB 7148.7 billion (equivalent to USD 1009.3 billion), accounting for 41 percent; the outstanding debt of other sectors (including inter-company lending under direct investments) totaled RMB 6349.6 billion (equivalent to USD 896.5 billion), accounting for 37 percent.

In terms of debt instruments, the balance of loans was RMB 2645.7 billion (equivalent to USD 373.5 billion), accounting for 15 percent; the outstanding trade credits and advances was RMB 2770 billion (equivalent to USD 391.1 billion), accounting for 16 percent; the outstanding currency and deposits was RMB 3445.3 billion (equivalent to USD 486.4 billion), accounting for 20 percent; the outstanding debtsecurities was RMB 5307.8 billion (equivalent to USD 749.4 billion), accounting for 31 percent; the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) allocation amounted to RMB 344.1 billion (equivalent to USD 48.6 billion), accounting for 2 percent; the balance of inter-company lending under direct investments totaled RMB 2094.9 billion (equivalent to USD 295.8 billion), accounting for 12 percent; and the balance of other debt liabilities was RMB 727.4 billion (equivalent to USD 102.7 billion), accounting for 4 percent.

With respect to currency structures, the outstanding external debt in domestic currency totaled RMB 8196.9 billion (equivalent to USD 1157.3 billion), accounting for 47 percent; the outstanding external debt in foreign currencies (including SDR allocation) totaled RMB 9138.3 billion (equivalent to USD 1290.2 billion), accounting for 53 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 4 percent, the JPY debt accounted for 3 percent, the SDR and other foreign currency-denominated external debt accounted for 2 percent.

As at the end of 2023, the liability ratio was 13.7 percent, the debt ratio was 69.7 percent, the debt servicing ratio was 7.6 percent, and the ratio of short-term external debt to foreign exchange reserves was 42.1 percent. China's major external debt indicators were all within the internationally recognized thresholds, indicating that the external debt risk is controllable.

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.