Core Viewpoint - As of September 30, 2025, China's total external debt stands at 16.8287 trillion RMB (approximately 2.3684 trillion USD), reflecting a decrease of 2.8% from June 2025, indicating a stable external debt situation overall [3][7]. Group 1: Debt Structure - The long-term external debt amounts to 7.1511 trillion RMB (approximately 1.0064 trillion USD), accounting for 42% of the total, while short-term external debt is 9.6776 trillion RMB (approximately 1.3620 trillion USD), making up 58% [3][4]. - Among short-term external debt, trade-related credit constitutes 36% [3]. - The currency structure shows that domestic currency debt is 8.7394 trillion RMB (approximately 1.2299 trillion USD), representing 52%, while foreign currency debt (including SDR allocation) is 8.0893 trillion RMB (approximately 1.1385 trillion USD), accounting for 48% [5]. Group 2: Institutional Breakdown - The broad government external debt totals 2.8563 trillion RMB (approximately 402 billion USD), which is 17% of the total; central bank external debt is 0.7454 trillion RMB (approximately 104.9 billion USD), or 4%; bank external debt is 6.9198 trillion RMB (approximately 973.9 billion USD), making up 41%; and other sectors (including inter-company loans) account for 6.3072 trillion RMB (approximately 887.6 billion USD), or 38% [4][6]. Group 3: Debt Instruments - The loan balance is 2.1934 trillion RMB (approximately 308.7 billion USD), representing 13%; trade credit and prepayments total 2.8443 trillion RMB (approximately 400.3 billion USD), or 17%; currency and deposits amount to 3.3526 trillion RMB (approximately 471.9 billion USD), accounting for 20%; debt securities total 5.5417 trillion RMB (approximately 779.9 billion USD), making up 33%; and inter-company loan debt is 1.6799 trillion RMB (approximately 236.4 billion USD), which is 10% [2][4].

Core Viewpoint - China's total external debt balance continued to decline in the third quarter of 2025, indicating a stable overall external debt situation despite a slight decrease in scale [1] Group 1: External Debt Balance - As of September 30, 2025, China's total external debt balance was 168,287 billion RMB (equivalent to 23,684 billion USD), a decrease of 2.8% from June 30, 2025 [1] - The total external debt balance increased in the first quarter of 2025, reaching 175,967 billion RMB (equivalent to 24,514 billion USD) by March 31, 2025, marking an increase of 316 billion USD or 1.3% from the end of 2024 [1] - In the second quarter of 2025, the external debt balance slightly decreased to 174,437 billion RMB (equivalent to 24,368 billion USD) by June 30, 2025, a minor decline of 0.6% from March 31, 2025 [1] Group 2: Debt Structure - The currency structure of external debt shows that domestic currency debt accounted for 51.9%, a decrease of 0.2 percentage points from June 30, 2025 [1] - The maturity structure indicates that medium- and long-term external debt accounted for 42.5%, an increase of 0.1 percentage points from June 30, 2025 [1] - The overall external debt situation is described as stable, with a steady decline in scale and basic stability in currency structure, while the maturity structure has improved [1]