China's Foreign Debt Exceeds 151 Billion U.S. DollarsThe State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) announced Monday that by the end of 1999, the outstanding amount of China's foreign debt was equivalent to US$151. 83 billion, increasing US$5.79 billion or four percent over the end of the previous year.According to the statistics, of the total amount of foreign debt, medium-and long-term debt was US$136.65 billion, increasing US$7.95 billion over the previous year; short- term debt was US$15.18 billion, down US$2.16 billion. In 1999 China borrowed US$30.05 billion in new foreign debt, and paid US$30.99 billion in principal and interest. Of the total foreign debt of US$151.83 billion, US$47.3 billion was sovereignty debt borrowed by ministries and departments under the State Council, up 13.6 percent; the outstanding amount of foreign debt borrowed by financial institutions was US$40.9 billion, down 2.6 percent; while that borrowed by overseas-invested enterprises was US$47.3 billion, up 4.6 percent; that borrowed by domestic enterprises was US$14.71 billion, down 5.1 percent; and all other kinds of foreign debt totaled US$1.62 billion, basically remaining unchanged. |
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