Total foreign holdings of U.S. Treasury securities posted the eighth consecutive monthly increase in March, indicating strong international demand for U.S. government debt, the U.S. Treasury Department reported Tuesday.

In March, overall foreign holdings of U.S. long-term securities reached 5.12 trillion U.S. dollars, up 17.8 billion dollars, or 0.3 percent, from the revised level of the previous month.

According to the Treasury International capital report, China, the largest foreign holder of U.S. Treasury securities, boosted its holdings by 14.7 billion dollars to 1.17 trillion dollars in March.

Japan, the second largest foreign holder of U.S. government debt, trimmed its holdings by 2.4 billion dollars to 1.08 trillion dollars.

The strong demand is key to funding the U.S. mounting deficit, which is forecast to surpass 1 trillion dollars for the fourth consecutive fiscal year.