China reduced its holdings of U.S. Treasuries to 1.1035 trillion U.S. dollars in August, the second consecutive month in which the holdings dropped, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Treasury Department.
China, currently the second largest foreign holder of U.S. Treasuries, cut its holdings by 6.8 billion U.S. dollars in August, following a slight drop of 2.2 billion dollars in July.
Japan surpassed China to become the largest foreign holder of U.S. Treasuries in June, after boosting its holdings by 21.9 billion dollars in the month. In August, Japan's holdings of U.S. Treasuries increased by 43.9 billion dollars to reach 1.1747 trillion dollars.
Combined, the two Asian countries held about one third of the total foreign holdings of U.S. Treasuries in August, the department's data showed.
Overall, foreign holders of U.S. Treasuries had 6.8575 trillion dollars of government debt in August, up 225.6 billion dollars from the previous month.
