China holds US$31.2 billion more US treasury debt than previously reported, according to a revised data table released last Friday on the website of U.S. Department of the Treasury.

According to the table of major foreign Holders of U.S. Treasury Securities, China's holdings of US Treasury debt totaled US$727.4 billion in December 2008. The US Treasury’s February international capital flow report put China’s holdings at US$696.2 billion.

The revised table also shows that China's holding of the treasuries had reached US$713.2 billion in November 2008. This means the Chinese government increased its holdings of treasury debt by US$14.2 billion last December.

China treasury debt holdings have increased for seven consecutive months, triggering domestic concern over the security of the country's investments.

The US Treasury Department also released a preliminary report on foreign holdings of U.S. securities, which shows that by the end of June 2008 China had invested a total of US$1.2 trillion in U.S. securities, up US$283 billion year-on-year.

China's foreign exchange reserves, the largest in the world, totaled US$1.95 trillion by the end of December 2008, according to statistics from the People's Bank of China.

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(China.org.cn by Yan Pei March 2, 2009)