On the afternoon of August 1, 2011, Eastern Time, Gary Locke, accompanied by his family, appeared at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States of America. Under the supervision of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton, he took the oath of office on the Bible as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the People's Republic of China, becoming the first Chinese-American ambassador to China in U.S. history.
On the evening of the 12th at 9:29 PM, the new "head" of the U.S. Embassy in China, Gary Locke, arrived in Beijing with his family to officially take up his post.
On the 14th, the new U.S. Ambassador to China, Gary Locke, appeared at the ambassador's residence in Beijing with his wife and children. In his inaugural address, Locke was enthusiastic yet cautious. Regarding concerns over the safety of China's holdings of U.S. debt, Locke stated that he believes China's investment in U.S. dollar assets is safe, and that both the U.S. government and President Obama are committed to addressing domestic fiscal issues.
On August 6, Standard & Poor's downgraded the long-term sovereign credit rating of the United States from "AAA" to "AA+" with a "negative" outlook—this was the first time in U.S. history that it lost its "AAA" rating. As the largest holder of U.S. debt, Chinese public opinion has recently revealed a sense of anxiety regarding the safety of assets in the United States.
In response, Gary Locke stated that President Obama and Congress have already established a comprehensive roadmap for the U.S. fiscal situation, and even with the downgrade of U.S. Treasury bonds, there are still buyers. "This means that investments in the U.S. are safe. Furthermore, although the U.S. economy is facing adjustments, it remains strong," he said.
On August 10, the U.S. Treasury Department issued $24 billion in ten-year Treasury bonds, which saw a record-low yield of 2.14%, yet they were quickly sold out.
Currently, according to market estimates, China holds approximately $1.15 trillion in U.S. debt, accounting for 26% of all foreign-held U.S. debt, with the remainder held by Japan (20%), the United Kingdom (8%), Brazil (5%), and Russia (3%).
