BEIJING, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- China's external debt rose in the second quarter of 2026 amid active cross-border trade, while the latest available debt-risk indicators were within internationally recognized safety thresholds.

Outstanding external debt stood at 2.4982 trillion U.S. dollars at the end of June, up 86.1 billion dollars, or 4 percent, from the end of March, data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) showed on Tuesday.

The increase was mainly driven by relatively active cross-border trade, with both corporate trade credit and intercompany lending rising, said Li Bin, deputy head and spokesperson of SAFE.

Li said China's external debt remained generally stable in the second quarter.

China's goods imports and exports reached 13.61 trillion yuan (about 2.02 trillion U.S. dollars) in the second quarter, up 18.4 percent year on year, the fastest year-on-year growth for any quarter since the third quarter of 2021, according to data from the General Administration of Customs. Trade value in June alone rose 24.2 percent year on year, marking 17 consecutive months of growth.

Yuan-denominated external debt accounted for 56 percent of the total at the end of June, up 1 percentage point from the end of March, while medium- and long-term debt held steady at 41 percent.

SAFE said in July that the share of yuan-denominated external debt had risen while medium- and long-term debt had remained broadly stable at over 40 percent in recent years, with currency and maturity mismatch risks seeing significant declines.

Moderate external borrowing allows Chinese companies and banks to tap both domestic and international markets, diversify financing channels and improve operational efficiency, while risks stemming from excessive debt levels require continued monitoring, SAFE said.

At the end of 2025, China's outstanding external debt was equivalent to 11.9 percent of gross domestic product, below the 20-percent international safety threshold cited by SAFE.

Separate data released on Tuesday showed that China's external financial assets continued to exceed its external liabilities. External financial assets stood at 12.1804 trillion U.S. dollars at the end of June, against liabilities of 8.3555 trillion dollars, leaving net external financial assets of 3.8249 trillion dollars.