China's treasury debt holdings up

China's treasury debt holdings in the US grew by $14.3 billion in December amidst speculation that it was seeking other options to deploy its nearly $1.95 trillion in foreign exchange reserves.

The nation's holdings of the treasuries totaled $696.2 billion in December, up from $681.9 billion in November 2008, the US Treasury international capital flow report released yesterday showed.

The rise in treasury debt has triggered concerns that the country's continual pile-up of US debt would lead to investment losses if treasury prices tumble in future.