On June 26th, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange released China's full caliber external debt data as of the end of March 2026. Data shows that by the end of March 2026, the balance of China's full caliber (including local and foreign currencies) foreign debt is 16690.2 billion yuan (equivalent to 2412.1 billion dollars, excluding the external liabilities of Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR and Taiwan, China, the same below).

From the perspective of maturity structure, the balance of medium and long-term foreign debt is 692.14 billion yuan (equivalent to 1000.3 billion US dollars), accounting for 41%; The balance of short-term external debt is 9768.8 billion yuan (equivalent to 1411.8 billion US dollars), accounting for 59%. Trade related credit accounts for 40% of the short-term external debt balance.

From the perspective of institutional departments, the broad government's external debt balance is 2492.1 billion yuan (equivalent to 360.2 billion US dollars), accounting for 15%; The balance of external debt of the central bank is 715.6 billion yuan (equivalent to 103.4 billion US dollars), accounting for 4%; The bank's external debt balance is 684.11 billion yuan (equivalent to 988.7 billion US dollars), accounting for 41%; The external debt balance of other departments (including loans between affiliated companies) is 664.14 billion yuan (equivalent to 959.8 billion US dollars), accounting for 40%.

From the perspective of debt instruments, the loan balance is RMB 2336.4 billion (equivalent to USD 337.7 billion), accounting for 14%; The balance of trade credit and prepayments is RMB 3115.8 billion (equivalent to USD 450.3 billion), accounting for 19%; The balance of currency and deposits is 36674 billion yuan (equivalent to 530 billion US dollars), accounting for 22%; The balance of debt securities is RMB 4534.7 billion (equivalent to USD 655.4 billion), accounting for 27%; The allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDR) is 339.8 billion yuan (equivalent to 49.1 billion US dollars), accounting for 2%; The balance of loans and debts between affiliated companies is RMB 1921.8 billion (equivalent to USD 277.7 billion), accounting for 11%; The balance of other debts and liabilities is 774.3 billion yuan (equivalent to 111.9 billion US dollars), accounting for 5%.

From the perspective of currency structure, the balance of domestic currency and foreign debt is 924.28 billion yuan (equivalent to 1335.8 billion US dollars), accounting for 55%; The balance of foreign currency external debt (including SDR allocation) is RMB 744.74 billion (equivalent to USD 1076.3 billion), accounting for 45%. In the foreign currency registered foreign debt balance, US dollar debt accounts for 76%, euro debt accounts for 9%, Japanese yen debt accounts for 4%, Hong Kong dollar debt accounts for 6%, and the total proportion of special drawing rights and other foreign currency foreign debt is 5%.

Regarding China's foreign debt situation in the first quarter of 2026, Li Bin, Deputy Director and spokesperson of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, stated that the overall situation of China's foreign debt remained stable in the first quarter of 2026. Firstly, the scale of external debt remained stable with a slight increase. As of the end of March 2026, China's total external debt balance (including domestic and foreign currencies) has increased by 83.3 billion US dollars, or 4%, compared to the end of 2025. This is mainly due to factors such as active cross-border trade, with growth in non resident deposits and corporate trade credit. Secondly, the currency structure and maturity structure of external debt remain basically stable. From the perspective of currency structure, domestic currency and foreign debt account for 55%, which is the same as the end of 2025; From the perspective of maturity structure, medium and long-term foreign debt accounts for 41%, a decrease of 2 percentage points from the end of 2025.