Does China have debt like the US?
The IMF's Fiscal Monitor , opens new tab, released on Oct. 2, shows that the U.S.'s and China's total non-financial public and private
At the top is Japan, whose national debt has remained above 100% of its GDP for two decades, reaching 255% in 2023. *For the U.S. and Canada, gross debt levels were adjusted to exclude unfunded pension liabilities of government employees' defined-benefit pension plans.
Corporate debt adds another 123 per cent of GDP worth of liabilities, a large chunk of which is owed by state-owned enterprises (SOEs) [2]. In addition, household debt - mostly mortgages - is 61 per cent of GDP. Altogether, China's gross national debt is over 300 percent of GDP.
Russia divested from all US bond instruments, the only debts the Federal government has, and still owes the US and other investors nearly 300 billion US Dollars. The national debt in Russia was forecast to increase between 2023 and 2028 by in total 16.1 billion U.S.
15, 2023, and $32 trillion on June 15, 2023, hitting this accelerated pace. Before that, the $1 trillion move higher from $31 trillion took about eight months. U.S. debt, which is the amount of money the federal government borrows to cover operating expenses, now stands at nearly $34.4 trillion, as of Wednesday.
China has little overseas debt, and a high national savings rate. In addition, most of the debt is state owned – state-controlled banks loaned funds to state-controlled firms – giving the government the ability to manage the situation.
China's economy is at a turning point. An old economic model underpinned by heavy investment in infrastructure and real estate is crumbling. Growth is slowing and prices are falling, raising the specter of a Japan-style slide into stagnation.
Most of this debt came from building infrastructure, much of which is unlikely to generate revenues sufficient to pay off the obligations. With China's trend growth rate notably lower now than it was, it leaves a burden over the long haul.
Holders of U.S. Debt
Furthermore, China needs to maintain significant reserves of U.S. debt to manage the exchange rate of the renminbi. Were China to suddenly unload its reserve holdings, its currency's exchange rate would rise, making Chinese exports more expensive in foreign markets.
In total, other territories hold about $7.4 trillion in U.S. debt. Japan owns the most at $1.1 trillion, followed by China, with $859 billion, and the United Kingdom at $668 billion. In isolation, this $7.4 trillion amount is a lot, said Scott Morris, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development.
Why is the US in so much debt?
One of the main culprits is consistently overspending. When the federal government spends more than its budget, it creates a deficit. In the fiscal year of 2023, it spent about $381 billion more than it collected in revenues. To pay that deficit, the government borrows money.
Debt as a share of GDP has risen to about the same level as in the United States, while in dollar terms China's total debt ($47.5 trillion) is still markedly below that of the United States (close to $70 trillion). As for non-financial corporate debt, China's 28 percent share is the largest in the world.
The national debt is the total amount of money the U.S. owes its creditors, which includes “the public” (individual investors, businesses, commercial banks, pension funds, mutual funds, state and local governments, the Federal Reserve System and foreign governments) as well as other parts of the federal government, ...
The $34 trillion gross federal debt includes debt held by the public as well as debt held by federal trust funds and other government accounts. In very basic terms, this can be thought of as debt that the government owes to others plus debt that it owes to itself.
It's the amount of money that the U.S. government has borrowed (plus interest on those borrowings) to cover the outstanding costs it has incurred and which tax revenues aren't enough to pay off. The government borrows money to pay obligations by issuing Treasury bonds, notes, bills, and other marketable securities.
If China (or any other nation that has a trade surplus with the U.S.) stops buying U.S. Treasuries or even starts dumping its U.S. forex reserves, its trade surplus would become a trade deficit—something which no export-oriented economy would want, as they would be worse off as a result.
How did USA owe China so much money? The U.S. debt to China is approximately $1.059 trillion. That's 27.8 percent of the $3.8 trillion in treasury bills, notes, and bonds held by foreign countries. The rest of the $19.9 trillion national debt is owned by either the American people or by the U.S. government itself.
Russia National Government Debt reached 281.6 USD bn in Feb 2024, compared with 287.8 USD bn in the previous month. Russia National Government Debt data is updated monthly, available from May 2009 to Feb 2024. The data reached an all-time high of 384.2 USD bn in Jun 2022 and a record low of 86.1 USD bn in May 2009.
Among advanced economies, debt as a percentage of GDP increased from around 75 percent to more than 80 percent. As of 2023, the United States' debt-to-GDP ratio is among the highest in the developed world, behind only Japan and Italy.
Which country borrows the most money from World Bank?
India takes the top spot. Its $39.7bn debt towards the WB recorded at the end of 2021 is double that of the next biggest debtor, Indonesia, with $19.6bn.
Measured at market exchange rates, China's GDP was $18.3 trillion in 2022, 73 percent of the GDP of the United States and 10 times more than the 7 percent of US GDP it registered in 1990.
| Statistics | |
|---|---|
| GDP | $18.560 trillion (nominal; 2024 est.) $35.032 trillion (PPP; 2024 est.) |
| GDP rank | 2nd (nominal; 2023) 1st (PPP; 2023) |
| GDP growth | 5.2% (2023) 4.6% (2024f) |
| GDP per capita | $13,155 (nominal; 2024) $24,839 (PPP; 2024) |
Taipei, Taiwan – After starting 2023 with a bang, China's economy had a bumpy recovery over the past year. The Chinese economy's precarious footing looks set to continue into 2024, as deep-seated structural issues and Chinese President Xi Jinping's consolidation of political control threaten to dampen growth.
Why did China get into a debt problem? Figures show that China's over-borrowing of the public and corporate sector can basically be traced back to the huge stimulus package and lax monetary policy that Chinese economic authorities introduced during the global financial crisis in 2008-2009.
