(Yicai Global) March 18 -- The United States’ top five creditors all cut their holdings of Treasury bonds in January.

Japan, the largest US creditor, trimmed its US sovereign debt holdings by USD900 million to USD1.3 trillion for the second consecutive month, according to US Department of the Treasury data released yesterday Beijing time.

China, the second-biggest creditor, cut its holdings by USD8.6 billion to USD1.1 trillion in January, following a USD12.2 billion reduction in December.

The UK, which follows China in the list, cut its stock of treasuries by USD38.6 billion to USD608.6 billion. Luxembourg offloaded USD14.8 billion to USD310.8 billion, but overtook Ireland to take fourth place. Ireland completed the top five with a USD26 billion reduction to USD308.3 billion.

Switzerland, which ranked sixth, hiked its stash of US debt by USD11 billion to USD299 billion.

Overseas US debt holdings soared to a record high of USD7.8 trillion last December, after American creditors raised their holdings for three consecutive months. As of January, they owned USD7.7 trillion in US Treasury bonds, down USD86 billion from a month earlier.

Editor: Futura Costaglione