According to the Chinese Securities Times, the US Department of the Treasury released the latest international capital flow data for August and September on its official website on the 18th local time. The data showed that in September 2023, the total value of US Treasury securities held by overseas investors was $9.249 trillion (38.37 trillion ringgit), slightly lower than the historical high of $9.2662 trillion (38.44 trillion ringgit) in August. Among them, China remained the third-largest overseas holder, reducing its US Treasury holdings by $500 million (2.074 billion ringgit) in September from the previous month, bringing its total to $700.5 billion (2.9 trillion ringgit). This marks the fifth time China has reduced its holdings this year.
Subtle changes are occurring in the US Treasury holdings of the world's major economies. While China is reducing its holdings, Japan—the largest overseas holder of US Treasuries—continued to increase its position. As of September, Japan held $1.1893 trillion (4.93 trillion ringgit) in US Treasuries, up $8.9 billion (36.925 billion ringgit) from the previous month. This marks a continued trend of increasing holdings throughout this year and reached a new high since August 2022. It is also the ninth consecutive month that Japan has increased its US Treasury holdings.
The UK, the second-largest overseas holder of US Treasuries after Japan, drastically reduced its holdings by $39.3 billion (163.049 billion ringgit) from the previous month. After increasing its holdings by $5 billion (20.744 billion ringgit) in August, the UK turned to a substantial reduction in September, but still surpassed China in terms of total holdings, remaining the second-largest foreign investor in US Treasuries with $865.0 billion (3.59 trillion ringgit).
After a slight increase of $4.1 billion (17.01 billion ringgit) in August, China turned to a $500 million reduction in September, bringing its total holdings to $700.5 billion. This is China's fifth reduction in US Treasury holdings this year. Since reaching its all-time high of over $1.3 trillion (5.39 trillion ringgit) in 2011, China has been gradually reducing its US Treasury holdings and shifting toward assets such as gold.
According to data from the People’s Bank of China, China’s gold reserves at the end of September stood at 74.06 million ounces (about 2,303.523 tons), an increase of 40,000 ounces (about 1.24 tons) for the quarter, marking the 11th consecutive month of increasing gold reserves. At the end of August, gold reserves stood at 74.02 million ounces.