China Adds Treasuries For First Time Since July on Europe Woes

China, the largest foreign U.S. creditor, increased its holdings of U.S. government securities in January for the first time in six months as European leaders struggled to contain the region’s sovereign-debt crisis.

Holdings rose by 0.7 percent to $1.16 trillion, the first growth in China’s stake since July, Treasury data released yesterday show. The report also showed that net foreign purchases of Treasuries (HOLDTOT) totaled almost $83 billion in January, compared with net selling of $14.9 billion the month before.