China continued to diversify its foreign exchange reserves in February, trimming its US Treasury stockpile even as overall overseas holdings of sovereign American debt rose to a record high.
China’s stockpile of United States Treasuries fell to US$693.3 billion in February, down from US$694.4 billion in January, according to US Treasury Department data released on Wednesday.
Although China slightly increased its US Treasury holdings in January, the uptick did little to alter a broader downward trend that had previously pushed its position to the lowest level since 2008.
In contrast to China’s divestment, overall foreign holdings of US Treasuries climbed to a record US$9.49 trillion in February from US$9.29 trillion a month earlier.
Janet Henry, global chief economist at HSBC, said that the ongoing “de-dollarisation” narrative had been “overstating what has happened so far”.
“The US dollar is still the world’s most dominant currency,” she said in an interview on Wednesday during the HSBC Global Investment Summit in Hong Kong. “There are still buyers for US Treasuries.”
Treasuries are debt obligations issued by the US to fund government spending. They are widely accepted as a “risk-free” benchmark for global finance.
Henry added that while some countries, including China, are reducing their exposure to US government debt, much of the increase came from higher holdings in financial centres such as the United Kingdom and the Cayman Islands, as well as private investors.
The increase in foreign holdings of US Treasuries was mainly driven by private investors