Outstanding external debt at $785b in H1

China's outstanding external debt increased by $34 billion in the second quarter to reach $785.17 billion in the first half of the year, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said on Monday.

The amount does not include the outstanding external debt of the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions or that of Taiwan.

Short-term foreign debt was at $588.22 billion, representing 75 percent, while long and medium-term external debt outstanding was at $196.95 billion.

Long and medium-term external debt outstanding is mostly invested in industries, including manufacturing, transportation, electricity, gas, and supply and production of water.

In terms of the currency structure, debt in US dollars accounted for 77.77 percent of the outstanding external debt, while debt in Euro represented 7.51 percent and debt in Yen was at 6.99 percent.

In the first half, China accrued medium and long-term external debt of $21.25 billion, as well as repaid $14.78 billion in principal and $1.2 billion in interest.