Outstanding foreign debt fell by $51.7 billion in the first quarter of 2016 to $1.36 trillion, the foreign exchange regulator said on Thursday, as local companies repaid dollar liabilities amid expectations that the yuan would depreciate further.
Foreign debt at end-March fell 3.6 percent from the end of 2015, after a 3.8 percent drop in the fourth quarter, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) said on its website.
The SAFE said in a separate statement that it expects China's foreign debt to stabilize, and it will take steps to prevent risk from "abnormal" cross-border capital flows.
Short-term foreign debt stood at $849.1 billion at end-March, accounting for 62 percent of total debt and down about 8 percent from the end of last year, the regulator said.
Medium- and long-term debt rose 4 percent from the end of last year, it said.
