China was once the top holder of U.S. Treasuries but has been shedding its massive stockpile for years, fueling fears of de-dollarization. But official data may not fully capture Beijing’s actual portfolio.
The decline began in earnest around 2021, but as recently as April 2022, China still held $1 trillion in Treasury securities. U.S. data on Friday show that’s been whittled down to just $591 billion as of August, the lowest in 18 years and down from $700 billion a year earlier.
But the data is collected primarily from U.S.-based custodians and broker-dealers, according to the Treasury Department, which adds that U.S. securities held in overseas custody accounts may not be attributed to the actual owners.
Jason Ma | Yahoo Finance