Is China in more debt than the US?
China's debt is more than 250 percent of GDP, higher than the United States. It remains lower than Japan, the world's most indebted leading economy, but some experts say the concern is that China's debt has surged at the sort of pace that usually leads to a financial bust and economic slump.
Most of this debt came from building infrastructure, much of which is unlikely to generate revenues sufficient to pay off the obligations. With China's trend growth rate notably lower now than it was, it leaves a burden over the long haul.
At the top is Japan, whose national debt has remained above 100% of its GDP for two decades, reaching 255% in 2023.
15, 2023, and $32 trillion on June 15, 2023, hitting this accelerated pace. Before that, the $1 trillion move higher from $31 trillion took about eight months. U.S. debt, which is the amount of money the federal government borrows to cover operating expenses, now stands at nearly $34.4 trillion, as of Wednesday.
China's debt-to-GDP ratio climbs to record 287.8% in 2023 - Nikkei Asia.
China has little overseas debt, and a high national savings rate. In addition, most of the debt is state owned – state-controlled banks loaned funds to state-controlled firms – giving the government the ability to manage the situation.
China is one of the United States's largest creditors, owning about $859.4 billion in U.S. debt. 1 However, it does not own the most U.S. debt of any foreign country.
| Characteristic | National debt in relation to GDP |
|---|---|
| Macao SAR | 0% |
| Brunei Darussalam | 2.06% |
| Kuwait | 3.08% |
| Hong Kong SAR | 4.27% |
However, the sheer scale of the country's local government hidden debt -- up to more than 70 trillion yuan ($9.8 trillion), according to some estimates, which is over twice Germany's GDP -- means that the measures at best are far from adequate and will provide only temporary relief to what experts say is a looming ...
With $1.1 trillion in Treasury holdings, Japan is the largest foreign holder of U.S. debt.
Why is U.S. debt so high?
It began rising at a fast rate in the 1980's and was accelerated through events like the Iraq Wars and the 2008 Great Recession. Most recently, the debt made another big jump thanks to the pandemic with the federal government spending significantly more than it took in to keep the country running.
Of course, just as with an individual or family, cutting spending and increasing revenue are smart first steps. Beyond that, the government considers things like new taxes, a higher retirement age, removing loopholes from the tax code, and more to reduce annual deficits and the national debt.
The national debt is the total amount of money the U.S. owes its creditors, which includes “the public” (individual investors, businesses, commercial banks, pension funds, mutual funds, state and local governments, the Federal Reserve System and foreign governments) as well as other parts of the federal government, ...
The $34 trillion gross federal debt includes debt held by the public as well as debt held by federal trust funds and other government accounts. In very basic terms, this can be thought of as debt that the government owes to others plus debt that it owes to itself.
Federal Borrowing
The federal government borrows money from the public by issuing securities—bills, notes, and bonds—through the Treasury. Treasury securities are attractive to investors because they are: Backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government.
Public sector debt was RMB 30.3 trillion (53.2% of GDP) while private sector debt (including both household and non-financial corporate sector) amounted to RMB 103.5 trillion (181.9% of GDP). The banking sector is still the biggest lender in China.
Related information about China National Government Debt
In the latest reports, China Consolidated Fiscal Balance recorded a deficit equal to 4.6 % of its Nominal GDP in Dec 2023. The country's Government debt accounted for 22.7 % of its Nominal GDP in Sep 2023. China Nominal GDP reached 4,166.8 USD bn in Mar 2023.
Why did China get into a debt problem? Figures show that China's over-borrowing of the public and corporate sector can basically be traced back to the huge stimulus package and lax monetary policy that Chinese economic authorities introduced during the global financial crisis in 2008-2009.
Holders of U.S. Debt
Were China to suddenly unload its reserve holdings, its currency's exchange rate would rise, making Chinese exports more expensive in foreign markets. As such, China's holdings of American debt do not provide China with undue economic influence over the United States.
If China (or any other nation that has a trade surplus with the U.S.) stops buying U.S. Treasuries or even starts dumping its U.S. forex reserves, its trade surplus would become a trade deficit—something which no export-oriented economy would want, as they would be worse off as a result.
Does China still hold U.S. debt?
The total debt is nearly $34 trillion, but changes somewhat depending on how you calculate it. And about a third, or 30%, of the publicly held national debt is owned by foreign countries and foreign investors. The biggest foreign holder of U.S. debt is Japan, followed by China.
Japan and China have been the largest foreign holders of US debt for the last two decades. Japan and China held almost 50% of all foreign-owned US debt between 2004 and 2006. However, this has declined over time, and as of 2022 they controlled approximately 25% of foreign-owned debt.
According to a 2021 report by the Department of Agriculture, China owns 384,000 acres of American agricultural land; ownership which jumped by 30% from 2019 to 2020.
- China's biggest borrowers. ...
- Belarus: $11 billion (£9bn) total debt. ...
- Turkmenistan: $12.2 billion (£10bn) total debt. ...
- Kenya: $12.7 billion (£10.2bn) total debt. ...
- Democratic Republic of the Congo: $13.1 billion (£10.5bn) total debt.
- Somalia.
- South Sudan.
- Sudan.
- Tanzania.
- The Gambia.
- Togo.
- Uganda.
- Zambia.
