China, the top buyer of US Treasury securities, raised its holding in February after cuts for two consecutive months, the latest data from the Treasury Department showed Friday.

China increased its holding of the treasuries by 14.4 billion U.S. dollars to 1.2523 trillion dollars in February, following a cut of 8.2 billion dollars in the previous month.

Japan, the second largest foreign holder of U.S. treasuries, increased its holding by 9.6 billion dollars to 1.1331 trillion dollars in February.

In February, overall foreign holdings of U.S. Treasury securities rose to 6.2362 trillion dollars from January's 6.1833 trillion dollars.