China buys more US debt

China’s holdings of US Treasury Bills increased in April for the first time in six months, Bloomberg reported. The country’s holdings of US debt increased 0.8% to US$1.149 trillion, slightly above its previous peak of US$1.145 trillion in December. The rise comes despite repeated concern expressed by Chinese officials over the effects that the US Federal Reserve’s program of quantitative easing might have on debt yields, among other ramifications. Other data released Wednesday revealed that China’s actual foreign direct investment (FDI) growth slowed to 13% year-on-year in May, down from 15% in April. The cause was attributed largely to slackening investment from the US, which fell 24% during the January to May period this year. However, the nation’s outbound direct investment appears strong, with investments abroad made by Chinese companies in non-financial sectors rising 42% year-on-year in the first five months of 2011.