(Yicai) July 19 -- China, the second-largest creditor nation to the United States, pared USD2.4 billion worth of US Treasury bonds to have a total of USD768.3 billion in May, marking a reversal after the first hike of this year in April.

Since April 2022, China's holdings of American government debt have remained below USD1 trillion, the US Department of the Treasury revealed yesterday.

From January to March, China trimmed its possession of US Treasuries by USD18.6 billion, USD22.7 billion, and USD7.6 billion, respectively. But in April, it added USD3.3 billion of such assets.

Japan retained its position as the largest creditor nation to the US in May despite its reduction of USD22 billion that month to a total of USD1.13 trillion.

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom increased its appetite for such notes, adding USD13.1 billion to reach a total of USD723.4 billion, ranking third worldwide.

Overseas net inflows of long- and short-term US securities and banking flows tallied USD15.8 billion in May, of which USD7.3 billion were official funds and USD8.6 billion private funds, according to data from the same source.

Editor: Emmi Laine