Japan Surpasses China As Top Foreign Holder Of U.S. Debt

(CNS News) Terence P. Jeffrey August 27 2019 12:12 PM Entities in Japan have surpassed entities in Mainland China as the top foreign holders of U.S. Treasury securities according to the latest estimate published this month by the Treasury. In May of this year the Chinese owned $1110200000000 in U.S Treasury securities and the Japanese owned $1101000000000. In June however Chinese ownership of U.S. Treasury securities rose only to $1112500000000 and Japanese ownership climbed to $1122900000000. That marked the first time since May 2017 that entities in Japan have owned more U.S. Treasury securities as estimated by the U.S. Treasury than entities in China. In May 2017 the Japanese owned $1111500000000 in U.S. Treasury securities and the Chinese owned $1102200000000. In June 2017 Chinese ownership of U.S. Treasury securities increased to $1146500000000 and Japanese ownership declined to $1090300000.000. Chinese ownership of U.S. Treasury securities according to the estimates peaked in November 2013 at $1316700000000. The $1112500000000 level it hit in June was $204200000000 below that peak.