China’s US Treasury holdings slide as India’s climb to $219.7 billion

WASHINGTON: China’s holdings of US Treasury securities fell sharply in August while India’s rose for a third straight month, according to US Treasury data released.

China’s holdings dropped to $590.7 billion at the end of August from $618 billion in July. A year earlier, in August 2025, China held $699.7 billion, meaning its holdings have shrunk by about $109 billion in 12 months, said Treasury International Capital (TIC) in its latest report.

India’s holdings rose to $219.7 billion in August from $202.6 billion in July, a gain of about $17 billion in a single month. India’s holdings had fallen to a low of $181 billion in April and have climbed steadily since, to $181.3 billion in May, $186.4 billion in June and $202.6 billion in July. They are now back to roughly where they stood a year earlier, when India held $219.4 billion.

The gap between the two Asian economies’ holdings has narrowed to about $371 billion, from about $480 billion a year ago.

India ranks 14th among the largest foreign holders of US Treasuries in Treasury’s table of major foreign holders, behind Hong Kong at $261.5 billion and just ahead of Norway at $214 billion.

Japan remained the largest foreign holder at $1,068.3 billion, though its holdings fell from $1,103.9 billion in July. The United Kingdom was second at $1,009.5 billion, up from $998.3 billion. China, Mainland, was third, followed by Belgium at $490.5 billion, Canada at $464.6 billion, the Cayman Islands at $463 billion and Luxembourg at $448.2 billion.

Overall, the Treasury said there was “a net TIC inflow of $199.8 billion” in August. “Foreign residents increased their holdings of long-term U.S. securities in August; their net purchases were $300.7 billion,” it said. At the same time, “Foreign residents decreased their holdings of U.S. Treasury bills by $47.8 billion.”

The Treasury cautioned that the country figures may not reflect true ownership. “The data in this table are collected primarily from U.S.-based custodians and broker-dealers. Since U.S. securities held in overseas custody accounts may not be attributed to the actual owners, the data may not provide a precise accounting of individual country ownership of Treasury securities,” it said in notes to the table.

The next TIC release, covering September, is scheduled for November 18, the Treasury said.