China's foreign debts total $751b

BEIJING - China's outstanding external debts totaled $751.26 billion by the end of March, the country's foreign exchange regulator said Tuesday.

In breakdown, medium and long-term foreign debts totaled $193.56 billion, while short-term debts stood at $557.7 billion, figures released by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange show.

Of the registered external debts, which stood at $480.16 billion, 76.67 percent were US dollar-denominated debts, while 7.05 percent and 8.23 percent were yen- and euro-denominated debts, respectively.

In the first quarter, China repaid principals totaling $5.99 billion for medium and long-term debts, up 30.25 percent year-on-year. And the interest paid during the period totaled $559 million, up 21.52 percent, according to the data.

The foreign debts exclude those of the country's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Macao SAR, and Taiwan.