The Central Bank of Japan said that China remained the country holding the largest amount of Japanese government bonds by the end of 2012 with an annual increase from 18 trillion yen ($170 billion) to 20 trillion yen.

During the same period, the amount of Japanese government bonds held by the US dropped from 10 trillion yen to 8.6 trillion yen while the UK decreased its yen holdings from 11 trillion yen to 8.9 trillion yen.

The appreciation rate between the yuan and yen reached 19 percent since the early part of this year.