Serious changes have occurred in ranks of the largest foreign holders of US debt. At present, Japan is at the top of the list knocking China out of the first place. The information has been officially acknowledged by the US Treasury Department. The Treasury released a report with data on bond purchases for February 2015. Total debt holdings by foreigners contracted almost 1% to $6.16 trillion. China’s US bond holdings tumbled 1.2% or $49.2 billion over the 12 months ended February, according to the Treasury Department. Japan increased its portfolio by $13.6 billion over the same period. The Treasury Department said Japan owned $1.2244 trillion worth of US Treasury securities at the end of February, exceeding China’s holdings by nearly $700 million. Thus, Japan dethroned China as the top foreign holder of US Treasuries for the first time since the financial crisis. Interestingly, Russia is ranked 19th with its US Treasury bonds worth $69.6 billion after it cut US securities $12.5 billion in February. However, this state of affairs does not upset Beijing as China is entirely focused on maintaining the superpower status. Recent macroeconomic reports confirm that China is currently outperforming the US in economic development. The Asian Infrastructure Development Bank is a steppingstone to secure its goal. Besides, the newly-founded bank has tackled the need in investments and solved the problem of “political vacuum” in Afghanistan. A lot of countries challenge the US status as a global superpower and approve of China’s plans.
