China significantly increased its holdings of U.S. debt by $17.8 billion to $1.065 trillion in October

The Paper's reporter Jiang Mengying

On December 16, Beijing time, data released by the US Treasury Department showed that the size of Us treasuries held by Japan rose to $1.3204 trillion in October this year, and the size of China's holdings also rose to $1.0654 trillion.

Japan increased its holdings of U.S. debt by $20.8 billion to $1.3204 trillion in October, remaining the largest U.S. creditor. Japan overtook China to become the largest creditor of the United States in June 2019 and remains so far.

China also significantly increased its holdings by $17.8 billion to $1.0654 trillion in October, remaining the second-largest U.S. creditor. It is worth mentioning that in addition to the slight increase of US$600 million and US$6.4 billion in September and July this year, China has reduced its holdings of US bonds for four consecutive months, with a reduction of US$3.8 billion in March, a slight reduction of US$4.3 billion in April, a reduction of US$17.7 billion in May, and a reduction of US$6.5 billion in June. According to Bloomberg, in August this year, China's holdings of US bonds hit their lowest level since 2010.

The United Kingdom, Ireland and Luxembourg are three to five of the major holders of U.S. debt. The Uk.D. increased its holdings by $13.3 billion to $579.8 billion in October this year, ranking third-largest in U.S. Treasuries. Ireland added $14.9 billion to $324.3 billion in October, remaining the fourth-largest U.S. creditor. Luxembourg edged up $2.5 billion to $314.3 billion in October, adding more for three consecutive months since August and overtaking Switzerland in September to be the fifth-largest holder of U.S. debt.

Overall, foreign holders held a total of $7.6487 trillion in U.S. Treasuries in October, an increase of $99.6 billion from September, and a record high.

Responsible editor: Zheng Jingxin Photo editor: Jin Jie

Proofreader: Shi Gong