(Yicai) Oct. 19 -- China, the United States’ second-largest creditor, reduced its holdings of US Treasury Bonds for the fifth consecutive month to a new lowest since June 2009 in August, according to the latest official data.

China paired its ownership of US Treasuries by USD16.4 billion to USD805.4 billion in August from the previous month, according to data released yesterday by the US Department of the Treasury.

China cut its holdings for seven straight months until February, increased them slightly in March, and then resumed shrinking them in April.

Japan, the US’ biggest creditor, increased its holdings of US Treasury bonds for the third consecutive month by USD3.7 billion to USD1.1162 trillion. The UK, the US’ third-largest creditor, increased its holdings of US Treasuries by USD35.7 billion to USD698.1 billion, after cutting them by USD9.9 billion in July.

Net acquisitions of US short- and long-term securities and bank flows stood at USD134.4 billion in August. Among them, the net inflow of private funds was USD140.9 billion, and the net outflow of official funds was USD6.5 billion.

Editor: Futura Costaglione