SAFE Releases China's External Debt Data

 atthe end of September 2022

As at the end of September 2022, China recorded RMB 17.618 trillion in outstanding external debt denominated in both domestic and foreign currencies (equivalent to USD 2481.5 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 7993.8 billion (equivalent to USD 1125.9 billion), accounting for 45percent; while the outstanding short-term external debt was RMB 9624.4 billion (equivalent to USD 1355.6 billion), taking up 55 percent,of which 38 percent was trade-related credit.

In terms of institutional sectors, the outstanding debt of general government totaled RMB 3025.6 billion (equivalent to USD 426.1 billion), accounting for 17 percent;the outstanding debt of the central bank totaled RMB555.1 billion(equivalent to USD 78.2 billion), accounting for 3 percent;the outstanding debt of banks totaled RMB 7443.6 billion (equivalent to USD 1048.4 billion), accounting for42 percent;the outstanding debt of other sectors (includinginter-company lending under direct investments) totaled RMB 6593.9 billion (equivalent to USD 928.8 billion), accounting for 38 percent.

In terms of debt instruments, the balance of loans was RMB 2773.1 billion (equivalent to USD 390.6 billion), accounting for 16 percent;the outstanding trade credit and prepayment was RMB 2677.3 billion (equivalent to USD 377.1 billion), accounting for 15 percent;the outstanding currency and deposits was RMB 3965.8 billion (equivalent to USD 558.6 billion), accounting for23percent;the outstanding debt securities was RMB 5171 billion (equivalent to USD 728.3 billion), accounting for 29 percent;the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) allocation amounted to RMB 329 billion(equivalent to USD 46.3 billion), accounting for 2 percent; the balance of inter-company lending under direct investments totaled RMB 2178.9 billion(equivalent to USD 306.9 billion), accounting for 12percent;and the balance of other debt liabilities was RMB 523 billion (equivalent to USD 73.7 billion), accounting for 3 percent.

With respect to currency structures, the outstanding external debt in domestic currency totaled RMB 7804.3 billion (equivalent to USD 1099.2 billion), accounting for 44 percent;the outstanding external debt in foreign currencies (including SDR allocation) totaled RMB 9813.9 billion (equivalent to USD 1382.3 billion), accounting for 56 percent. In the outstanding registered external debt in foreign currencies, the USD debt accounted for 86 percent, the Euro debt accounted for 6 percent, theHKD debt accounted for 4 percent, the JPY debt accounted for 1 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-relatedcredit 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.