The State Administration of Foreign Exchange announced Tuesday that China's foreign debt (excluding that from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) totaled 233.4 billion US dollars by the end of March of this year.

This is an increase of 4.813 billion dollars, or 2.11 percent compared with that at the end of 2004. The growth is ascribed to the rapid economic growth and the expectation of the appreciation of the Chinese currency.

Although China's foreign debt has continued to rise in the first quarter of 2005, its growth slowed compared with last year, said the administration.

The administration said that mid- and long-term foreign debt stood at 125.53 billion dollars, accounting for 53.78 percent of the total. The short-term debt increased by 3.567 billion dollars from the end of 2004 to 107.876 dollars, making up 46.22 percent of the total.

The quarterly currency policy report released recently by the central bank of China, the People's Bank of China, showed that it will further strengthen management over the foreign debt of foreign-funded enterprises and foreign banks in a bid to control the rapid growth.

However, relevant departments said that there is no debt-paying risks for China as its foreign exchange reserves have surged to 659.1 billion dollars by the end of March.

Last year, the country's foreign exchange reserves reported a net increase of 206.7 billion dollars.

China's foreign debt soared by record 35 billion dollars in 2004, up 18 percent.

Source: Xinhua