China significantly reduced its holdings of U.S. Treasury bonds in August but remains the largest creditor of the United States

China significantly reduced its holdings of U.S. Treasury bonds in August but remains the largest creditor of the United States (Reported by Yang Qiwei, Special Correspondent of the Alberta Times) According to data released by the U.S. Department of the Treasury on the 18th...

China significantly reduced its holdings of U.S. Treasury bonds in August but remains the largest creditor of the United States (Alberta Times special reporter Yang Qiwei reported) According to data released by the U.S. Treasury Department on the 18th, in August, China significantly reduced its holdings of U.S. Treasury bonds by US$36.5 billion, ending the previous four consecutive months of increasing its holdings. But China is still the largest creditor of the United States. As of the end of August, China still held US$1.137 billion in US Treasury bonds. Since reaching $1.1112 trillion in June last year, China’s holdings of U.S. Treasury bonds have remained stable at more than $1 trillion. In the past four months, China has increased its holdings of U.S. Treasury bonds by a total of US$28.6 billion, including US$7.6 billion in April, US$7.3 billion in May, US$5.7 billion in June, and US$8 billion in July. The international rating agency Standard & Poor's made a historic decision on August 5, downgrading the U.S. sovereign credit rating from the top AAA level to AA+ for the first time. Du Zhengzheng, a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Finance of the Academy of Social Sciences, believes that China's substantial reduction in its holdings of U.S. Treasury bonds may be related to this. Although the U.S. economic outlook is not optimistic and the long-term risks of U.S. debt continue to expand, countries including Europe and Japan are currently shrouded in a debt haze. And in terms of liquidity, there is currently a lack of alternatives to U.S. Treasury bonds on the market. Looking at the global financial market, U.S. Treasury bonds are still relatively safe investment products. Financial expert Zhao Qingming said that only by blocking the increase in foreign exchange reserves and promoting the balance of international payments can we truly solve the problem of foreign exchange reserve investment. As of the end of September, the country's foreign exchange reserve balance was US$3.2017 billion. Among them, foreign exchange reserves increased by US$47.8 billion and US$17.2 billion respectively in July and August, but decreased by US$60.8 billion in September. This was the first single-month decline in the country's foreign exchange reserves in 16 months.