It’s the biggest pile of debt in the world — the $30 trillion US Treasuries market. It’s been built with the help of foreign central banks and investors, who have clamored to buy US government bonds through good times and bad. But what happens if their appetite wanes? China’s government has been steadily trimming its holdings over the past decade. While it’s still one of the biggest foreign owners...
It’s the biggest pile of debt in the world — the $30 trillion US Treasuries market. It’s been built with the help of foreign central banks and investors, who have clamored to buy US government bonds through good times and bad. But what happens if their appetite wanes? China’s government has been steadily trimming its holdings over the past decade. While it’s still one of the biggest foreign owners of US Treasuries, its stockpile has almost halved since reaching a peak in 2013, dropping to $683 billion in November, the lowest since 2008. Now, Beijing has urged Chinese banks to scale back their private holdings . Cutting those positions would reduce China’s reliance on the US — bolstering financial and national security, especially in times of tensions. But an overly rapid selloff in Treasuries might send the yuan higher and undermine China’s powerful export engine. What prompted Beijing’s guidance on US Treasuries? Chinese officials have framed the move as an effort to help banks generally reduce concentration risk and limit their exposure to market volatility. But the broader context points to Beijing’s strategic goal: reducing the country’s reliance on US assets as tensions persist over trade relations, technology and Taiwan. Policymakers are mindful of the precedent set in 2022, when the US and its allies froze about $300 billion of Russia’s central bank reserves after the invasion of Ukraine. The worry is that if tensions were to escalate, the US could — in an extreme scenario — restrict access to China’s state and privately held dollar assets in a similar fashion. Are there disadvantages for China? China’s government has been building its gold stockpile for a decade and sharply accelerated purchases in 2025, making it one of the world’s largest official holders. But beyond bullion, China has few viable alternatives for investing its roughly $3.4 trillion in foreign-currency reserves — the world’s largest stash — and its domestic banks face the same problem. Othe...
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index has risen more than 12% in 2026, in contrast to losses in US benchmarks as shares were sold off on fears that AI models may threaten the business of software, legal and real estate service providers. The divergence underscores global funds’ shift of preference from AI pioneers burdened by massive spending toward hardware producers with strong pricing power, many of whom...
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index has risen more than 12% in 2026, in contrast to losses in US benchmarks as shares were sold off on fears that AI models may threaten the business of software, legal and real estate service providers. The divergence underscores global funds’ shift of preference from AI pioneers burdened by massive spending toward hardware producers with strong pricing power, many of whom are in Asia. Surging memory chip prices have been a boon for the region’s heavyweights such as Samsung Electronics Co., while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s irreplaceable role as the world’s leading contract chipmaker has provided support for Taiwanese stocks.
By David Lawder WASHINGTON, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Trump administration officials signed a final reciprocal trade agreement that confirmed a 15% U.S. tariff rate for imports from Taiwan, while committing
By David Lawder WASHINGTON, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Trump administration officials signed a final reciprocal trade agreement that confirmed a 15% U.S. tariff rate for imports from Taiwan, while committing