China's holdings of United States government debt in October eclipsed the $1.3 trillion mark for the first time, before a Chinese banking official signaled a cut in the accumulation of foreign-exchange reserves could be at hand, a move some saw as presaging a drop in the country's massive purchases of US Treasury securities.

China increased its Treasury holdings by $10.7 billion from September to remain the US' largest creditor, the US Department of the Treasury said. Japan remained the second-largest US creditor, even though it cut its holdings by $3.7 billion.

Overall, foreign holdings of Treasuries climbed $600 million in October to $5.65 trillion. Holdings of US government securities by overseas investors edged up 1.4 percent this year, on track for the slowest rise since the Treasury began releasing full-year data in 2001.