As at the end of September 2022, China recorded RMB 17.618 trillion in outstanding external debt denominated in both domestic and foreign currencies .

Interms of maturitystructure, the outstanding medium-and long-term external debt was RMB 7993.8 billion (equivalent to USD1125.9 billion), accounting for 45 percent;whilethe outstanding short-term external debt was RMB 9624.4 billion (equivalent to USD 1355.6billion), taking up 55 percent,of which 38 percent was trade-related credit.

In terms ofinstitutional sectors, the outstanding debt of  general government totaled RMB3025.6 billion (equivalent to USD426.1billion), accounting for 17percent;the outstanding debt of the central bank totaled RMB 555.1 billion(equivalent to USD78.2billion), accounting for 3 percent;the outstanding debt of banks totaled RMB7443.6 billion (equivalent to USD1048.4 billion), accounting for 42 percent;the outstanding debt of other sectors(includinginter-company lending under direct investments) totaled RMB6593.9 billion (equivalent to USD928.8billion), accounting for 38 percent.

In terms of debt instruments,the balance of loans was RMB2773.1 billion (equivalent to USD390.6billion), 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 558.6billion), accounting for 23 percent;the outstanding debt securities was RMB5171 billion (equivalent to USD728.3billion), accounting for 29 percent;the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) allocation amounted to RMB 329 billion(equivalent to USD46.3billion), 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 12 percent;and the balance of other debt liabilities was RMB 523 billion (equivalent toUSD3.7billion),accounting for 3 percent.

With respect tocurrency structures, the outstanding external debt indomestic currency totaled RMB 7804.3 billion (equivalent to USD1099.2 billion), accounting for 44 percent;the outstanding external debt in foreign currencies (including SDR allocation) totaled RMB 9813.9billion (equivalent to USD 1382.3billion), 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, the HKD debt accounted for 4 percent,the JPY debt accounted for 1 percent,the SDR andother foreign currency-denominated external debt accounted for 3 percent.

Since all major external debtindicators were within the internationally recognized thresholds,China’sexternal debt risk is under control.

Appendix

Definition of terms and interpretations

External debtclassification bymaturitystructure.

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 maturityis 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,  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.