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Economics

China’s Debt-to-GDP Ratio Rises to Record 279.7% on Credit Boom

Shoppers walk down Nanjing East Road, one of the city's main commercial and tourist area, in Shanghai, China.

Shoppers walk down Nanjing East Road, one of the city's main commercial and tourist area, in Shanghai, China.

Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg
By
Bloomberg News

The Chinese economy’s debt ratio reached a record high in the first quarter of the year, with bank loans to companies surging as the nation reopened from Covid Zero.

The macro leverage ratio — or total debt as a percentage of gross domestic product — soared to 279.7% in the first quarter, according to central bank and statistics bureau data compiled by Bloomberg. That was an increase of 7.7 percentage points from the previous quarter, the biggest jump in three years.