China has dumped $150 billion of U.S. treasuries since Jan. 2022. Is it a prelude to war?
https://dailytorch.com/2023/04/china-has-dumped-150-billion-of-u-s-treasuries-since-jan-2022-is-it-a-prelude-to-war/
Since Jan. 2022, China has reduced its U.S. treasuries held outright, from $1.03 trillion to $859 billion in Jan. 2023, a 16.8 percent decrease, according to the latest data compiled by the U.S. Treasury of foreign holders of U.S. securities. This comes atop a further decrease from its peak in Nov. 2013 at more than $1.3 trillion, bringing the total decrease to 34.7 percent the past decade. When owners of treasuries are selling more than they are buying, interest rates can rise, and when they buy more than they are selling, interest rates will fall. But could China really impact that process all that much? The real question is that of firepower. In 2013, with its peak holdings of $1.3 trillion of U.S. treasuries, China was the single largest debt holder, owning 10.7 percent of the $12.2 trillion of publicly traded debt. That was China’s high water mark, whereas, today, the debt is much larger now. With $859 billion of treasuries, China owns just 3.5 percent of the $24.6 trillion of the publicly traded national debt. Is it a paper dragon?
