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BEIJING: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said here on Saturday that China was still confident in US Treasury bonds, as she expressed her nation's appreciation for the investments.
"I appreciate China's continued confidence in US Treasuries," Clinton told reporters after meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.
China is the top holder of US Treasury bills, with 696.2 billion dollars of such securities in December followed by Japan with 578.3 billion dollars, according to the latest official data from Washington.
Continued Chinese investment is seen as essential to help the United States fund its 787-billion-dollar stimulus package that US President Barack Obama signed into law last week.
Speaking at the same press conference as Clinton, Yang indicated China would not deviate drastically from its US Treasury policies, but gave no specifics.
"It's true that China has used some of its foreign exchange reserves to buy US Treasury bonds. In making use of our foreign exchange reserves, we want to make sure of the safety of the reserves and the good value of them," he said.
"We will make further determinations about the ways and the means we will use our foreign exchange reserves according to the principles I just laid out.
"I want to emphasise here that facts speak louder than words."
Clinton, on the final leg of a week-long Asian trip, was due to meet President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao later on Saturday.
- AFP/so
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