At the end of June this year, China's outstanding foreign debt
exceeded US$170.41 billion, People's Bank of China announced in
Beijing on Thursday. China's foreign debt increased somewhat under
new international standards, but all safety indices are still
within the safety line drawn by those standards, according to a
spokesman for China's central bank.
According to the Thursday's announcement by People's Bank of China,
that at the end of June this year, China's outstanding foreign debt
stood at 170.41 billion US$. The statistics excludes the amounts
owed by Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and
Taiwan Province.
Figures and Statistics
Of
the total debt, medium and long-term debt accounted for US$112.88
billion while short-term debt came to US$57.53 billion.
Sovereign debt borrowed by ministries under the State Council was
US$49.69 billion; while that borrowed by Chinese financial
institutions was US$33.76 billion. Foreign-funded enterprises
borrowed US$34.7 billion; domestic enterprises borrowed US$11.6
billion, and leasing companies and other institutions, US$760
million.
In
addition, the debt owed by foreign financial institutions in China
was US$16.12 billion; the offshore deposits absorbed by Chinese
financial institutions, US$510 million; and the outstanding trade
credit, US$23.9 billion.
Safety Line Maintained
A
spokesman for the central bank told the journalist that all safety
indices are still within the safety line drawn by international
standards although China's foreign debt increased somewhat under
the new international standards.
Disparity to Be Eliminated
According to the spokesman, China began to publish foreign debt
data in accordance with international standards in a bid to
eliminate the disparity between China's original statistical
standards and the international standards that are newly formulated
during the past a few years.
(
November 9, 2001)