China's outstanding external debt reached 336.72 billion U.S. dollars by the end of March, down 10.13 percent from the end of last year, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) said Wednesday.

Long and medium-term external debt, which accounted for 48.48 percent of the total, stood at 163.25 billion U.S. dollars, down 0.38 percent, or 623 million U.S. dollars.

Short-term external debt fell 17.7 percent, or 37.32 billion U.S. dollars from the end of last year to 173.47 billion U.S. dollars.

The newly-added mid-and-long-term debts declined by 50.90 percent year on year, or 3.94 billion U.S. dollars, to 3.80 billion U.S. dollars in the three-month period.

The nation repaid principals for long and medium-term debt of 6.65 billion U.S. dollars, up 44.77 percent and interests 805 million U.S. dollars, down 27.22 percent, the SAFE said.

(Xinhua News Agency July 1, 2009)