China's external debt hit 697 bln U.S. dollar at end of September

BEIJING, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- China's foreign debt totaled 697.16 billion U.S. dollars at the end of September, up from 548.9 billion U.S. dollars at the end of 2010, the country's foreign-exchange regulator said Tuesday.

Short-term debt hit 507.63 billion U.S. dollars, equivalent to 72.81 percent of the country's total foreign debt, while mid- and long-term debt amounted to 189.54 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 27.19 percent of the total debt, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said in a statement on its website.