Total foreign holdings of U.S. long-term securities posted the seventh consecutive monthly increase in February, indicating a strong demand for U.S. government debt, the U.S. Treasury Department reported on Monday.

In February, overall foreign holdings of U.S. long-term securities reached 5.1 trillion dollars, up 41.2 billion dollars, or 0.8 percent from the previous month.

According to the Treasury International Capital report, China, the largest holder of U.S. Treasury bonds, boosted its holdings by 12.7 billion dollars to 1.18 trillion dollars in February. Japan, the second largest holder of U.S. government debt, added its holdings by 13.1 billion dollars to about 1.1 trillion dollars.

The strong demand is crucial to funding the U.S. mounting deficit which is estimated at 1.2 trillion dollars for the current budget year.