China Tops Japan as Biggest Holder of U.S. Debt

Just a little note.

It had been on my mind since Tobias at Observing Japan noted Japan’s erstwhile distinction as the holder of the most U.S. Treasury bills. He was discussing Niall Ferguson’s column, named with the “unfortunate word” Chimerica, and noted: “Ferguson does not mention that Japan holds more US treasuries than China, meaning that surely US-Japan bilateral negotiations are no less necessary thank US-China negotiations.” (He noticed the news, and updated the post.)

China increased its holdings to $585 billion in September, compared with $541.4 billion in August. Meanwhile, Japan shaved its holdings from a high of $600.7 billion in March of this year down to $571.4 billion in September.

China’s now the leader, but at least if we judge by dollar holdings, Japan still deserves attention.