External debts 2021

As at the end of 2021, China recorded 17.5112 trillion yuan in outstanding external debt denominated in both domestic and foreign currencies ($2746.6 billion, excluding those of Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR, and Taiwan Province of China, the same below).

In terms of maturity structure, the outstanding medium-and long-term external debt was 8290.5 billion yuan ($1300.4 billion), accounting for 47 percent; while the outstanding short-term external debt was 9220.7 billion yuan, taking up 53 percent, of which 39 percent was trade-related credit.

In terms of institutional sectors, the outstanding debt of general government totaled 3168.6 billion yuan, accounting for 18 percent; the outstanding debt of the central bank totaled 502.9 billion yuan, accounting for 3 percent; the outstanding debt of banks totaled 7586.9 billion yuan, accounting for 43 percent; the outstanding debt of other sectors (including inter-company lending under direct investments) totaled 6252.8 billion yuan, accounting for 36 percent.

In terms of debt instruments, the balance of loans was 2807.6 billion yuan, accounting for 16 percent; the outstanding trade credits and advances was 2584.1 billion yuan, accounting for 15 percent; the outstanding currency and deposits was 3765.3 billion yuan, accounting for 22 percent; the outstanding debt securities was 5645.3 billion yuan, accounting for 32 percent; the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) allocation amounted to 323.1 billion yuan, accounting for 2 percent; the balance of inter-company lending under direct investments totaled 1960.1 billion yuan, accounting for 11 percent; and the balance of other debt liabilities was 425.7 billion yuan, accounting for 2 percent.

With respect to currency structures, the outstanding external debt in domestic currency totaled 7885 billion yuan, accounting for 45 percent; the outstanding external debt in foreign currencies (including SDR allocation) totaled 9626.2 billion yuan, accounting for 55 percent. In the outstanding registered external debt in foreign currencies, the $debt accounted for 84 percent, the Euro debt accounted for 7 percent, the HKD debt accounted for 3 percent, the JPY debt accounted for 1 percent, the SDR and other foreign currency-denominated external debt accounted for 5 percent.

As at the end of 2021，the liability ratio was 15.5 percent, the debt ratio was 77.3 percent, the debt servicing ratio was 5.9 percent, and the ratio of short-term external debt to foreign exchange reserves was 44.5 percent. China's major external debt indicators were all within the internationally recognized thresholds, indicating that the external debt risk is controllable.

Definition of terms and interpretations

External debt classification by maturity structure. 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 maturity is 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 (including non-residents in Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR,and Taiwan Province of China), 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.

Liability ratio refers to the ratio of outstanding external debt as of the end of the year to the GDP for the year. Debt ratio refers to the ratio of the outstanding external debt as of the end of the year to the export revenue from trade in goods and services for the year. Debt servicing ratio refers to the ratio of the repayment of the principal and payment of interest on external debt for the year (the sum of the repayment of the principal and payment of interest on medium- and long-term external debt and the payment of the interest of short-term external debt) to the export revenue from trade in goods and services for the year. The internationally recognized thresholds for external debt risk indicators - liability ratio, debt ratio, debt servicing ratio and ratio of short-term external debt to foreign exchange reserves are 20 percent,100 percent, 20 percent and 100 percent respectively.