China’s reported US Treasury holdings fall to 18-year low in August

China’s reported holdings of US Treasury securities fell to $590.7 billion at the end of August 2026, an 18-year low, the South China Morning Post reported. The decline matters to investors tracking one of the largest foreign holders of US debt, although the Treasury’s country figures may not identify the ultimate owners of bonds held overseas.

The US Treasury’s table puts mainland China’s August holdings below $618.0 billion in July and $699.7 billion in August 2025. Fortune also reported the August figure, rounded to $591 billion, and described a years-long decline from the $1 trillion China held as recently as April 2022.

Why the country totals have limits

The same table lists $464.6 billion under Canada and $490.5 billion under Belgium in August. Fortune reported that the Canadian total had risen from $169 billion five years earlier, while Belgium’s had risen from $228 billion. Those increases do not establish that China owns the bonds recorded in either country.

What analysts say about overseas custody

Brad Setser, a Council on Foreign Relations senior fellow and former Treasury official, has argued that Chinese bonds held through Canadian and European custodians could make its actual US holdings higher than the country-attributed total suggests, Fortune reported. He said adjustments for those custodians add uncertainty to estimates because China appears to use multiple overseas accounts. That is his analysis, rather than a Treasury finding about the ownership of specific bonds.

Fortune reported that China has reduced its long-term Treasury holdings while increasing its short-term bills. Setser estimated that US financial assets still account for 50% to 55% of China’s reserve portfolio. The mix matters when assessing the reported fall in Treasury holdings: a change in the bonds attributed to China does not, on its own, show how much it holds across all US assets.