China’s external debt declines in 2022

Beijing: China’s outstanding foreign debt stood at approximately 2.45 trillion U.S. dollars at the end of 2022, data from the country’s forex regulator showed on Friday.

The balance was 28.7 billion U.S. dollars, or 1.2 percent, lower than it was at the end of September, according to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

Outstanding external debt in China’s domestic currency accounted for 45 percent of the total, up 1 percentage point from the end of September 2022, said Wang Chunying, deputy head of the administration.

The proportion of medium and long-term debt was 45 percent at the end of 2022, flat with the level recorded at the end of September, Wang said.

She predicted that the scale of China’s external debt would remain stable. “China’s economy is resilient, has great potential and is full of vitality,” she said. “And China has the fundamentals to keep its external debt stable.”

The administration will continue to promote cross-border investment and financing facilitation to serve the high-quality development of the real economy, Wang said.