WASHINGTON - China's holdings of US Treasury bonds in October hit the lowest in a year, but the country remained the largest foreign buyer of US government debt, statistics released Monday by US Treasury Department showed.

China's holdings of US Treasuries totaled $1.139 trillion in October, down by $12.5 billion from the previous month.

The statistics also showed that Japan, the second largest foreign buyer, is a net seller of US Treasuries in October, with its holdings slipping to a one-year low of $1.019 trillion, down by $9.5 billion from the previous month.

The two countries together still accounted for about a third of the total foreign holdings of US Treasury bonds, which saw a net foreign outflow of $25.6 billion in October.

Washington has increased the issuance of its government bonds since the massive corporate tax cut was enacted last December. Business insiders have warned of imbalance between demand and supply.