Li Bin, Vice Director of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange and the spokesperson, answered questions from journalists regarding the China's external debt data at the end of March 2026.

Recently, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange released China's external debt data as of the end of March 2026. Li Bin, Deputy Director of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange and spokesperson, answered questions from reporters on related issues. Question: How do you evaluate China's external debt situation in the first quarter of 2026? In the first quarter of 2026, China's external debt situation was generally stable. First, the scale of external debt remained stable with a slight increase. As of the end of March 2026, China's total external debt balance was $2.4121 trillion, an increase of $83.3 billion from the end of 2025, with a growth rate of 4%. This was mainly influenced by factors such as active cross-border trade, growth in non-resident deposits, and trade credits for enterprises. Second, the currency structure and maturity structure of external debt remained basically stable. In terms of currency structure, local currency external debt accounted for 55%, unchanged from the end of 2025; in terms of maturity structure, medium and long-term external debt accounted for 41%, a decrease of 2 percentage points from the end of 2025.