BEIJING, June 30 (Xinhua) -- China's outstanding external debt saw slower growth by the end of March with improved structure of currencies, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) said Friday.
The volume stood at 1.97 trillion U.S. dollars by March, up 0.3 percent or 6.5 billion U.S. dollars from the end of last year, the SAFE said.
China saw steady growth in overseas investors' demand for domestic renminbi bonds, said SAFE spokesperson Wang Chunying.
Renminbi external debt mainly contributed to the increase in external debt in the first quarter (Q1), of which the proportion to the total outstanding external debt climbed by 0.8 percentage points from 2018.
The balance of debt securities in Q1 increased 4.3 percent from the end of last year, accounting for 22.6 percent of the total outstanding external debt, SAFE said.