China's foreign debt rose 3.4 percent in the first quarter to stand at $443.2 billion at the end of March, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said on Friday.

Short-term debt totalled $276.2 billion, up from $259.3 billion at the end of 2009.

Seventy percent of China's foreign debt is denominated in dollars, with 11.0 percent in yen and 5.5 percent in euros, the foreign exchange regulator added. It was the first time it broke down the currency composition of the debt. (Reporting by Zhou Xin and langi Chiang; Editing by Alan Wheatley and Jonathan Hopfner)