China’s foreign debt exceeds 443 bln USD

   BEIJING, July 2 -- China's foreign debt stood well over 443.2 billion U.S. dollars at the end of March, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) said in a statement on its website Friday. 
    The figure excluded the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), Macao SAR and Taiwan. 
    The country's registered foreign debt was equivalent to 276.44 billion U.S. dollars and outstanding trade credits stood at 166.8 billion U.S.dollars, according to SAFE. It did not provide year-on-year growth figures. 
    Medium- and long-term external debt, accounting for 37.69 percent of all outstanding foreign debt, totaled 167.03 billion U.S.dollars. 
    Short-term external debt was 276.2 billion U.S.dollars, accounting for 62.31 percent of total debt. 
    The nation repaid 5.63 billion U.S. dollars in principal on medium- and long-term debt in the first three months of the year, down 15.3 percent year on year. 
    It paid 694 million U.S. dollars in interest on medium- and long-term debt in the period, down 13.79 percent year on year.