Economic Daily Beijing, March 28 (Reporter Gou Mingyang) The State Administration of Foreign Exchange announced China's foreign debt data at the end of 2024 on the 28th. Li Bin, deputy director and spokesperson of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, said that in 2024, the scale of my country's foreign debt decreased slightly, the currency structure was optimized, and the maturity structure remained stable. As of the end of 2024, my country's full-sized foreign debt balance (including domestic and foreign currencies) was US$2419.8 billion, a decrease of US$27.7 billion from the end of 2023, a decrease of 1.1%. From the perspective of currency structure, the proportion of foreign debt in local currency accounts for 50%, an increase of 3 percentage points from the end of 2023; from the perspective of maturity structure, the proportion of medium and long-term foreign debt is 44%, basically the same as the end of 2023.

Talking about the current situation of foreign debt in my country, Li Bin said that the decline in the scale of foreign debt is affected by multiple factors. In 2024, due to the combined influence of multiple factors such as exchange rate fluctuations, uncertainty in the international political and economic situation, the scale of my country's foreign debt rebounded in the first and second quarters, declined in the third and fourth quarters, and remained basically stable throughout the year. As of the end of 2024, my country's full-sized foreign debt balance decreased by US$27.7 billion compared with the end of 2023. Among them, exchange rate conversion factors caused the foreign debt balance to fall by US$36 billion, and the contribution to the decline in foreign debt balance was 129.9%.

my country's foreign debt risks are generally controllable. At the end of 2024, my country's foreign debt-liability ratio (the ratio of foreign debt balance to GDP) was 12.8%, the debt ratio (the ratio of foreign debt balance to trade export income) was 63.8%, the debt repayment ratio (the ratio of foreign debt principal and interest repayment to trade export income) was 6.5%, and the proportion of short-term foreign debt to foreign exchange reserves was 42.4%. The above indicators are all within the internationally recognized safety lines (20%, 100%, 20% and 100%, respectively), and have improved to varying degrees or maintained basically stability.

"It is expected that the scale of foreign debt in my country will remain basically stable." Li Bin said that looking forward to 2025, developed economies such as the United States and Europe will still be in a cycle of interest rate cuts, and the cost of foreign currency financing is expected to decline steadily. my country's high-quality development is steadily promoted, scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation are integrated and developed, more active and effective macro policies are implemented, high-level opening up is steadily expanded, and the level of cross-border financing facilitation will be continuously improved, which will help my country's foreign debt scale remain basically stable.