BEIJING - China's government debt amounts to about 17.5 trillion yuan ($2.78 trillion), about 43 percent of the country's gross domestic product, Yang Kaisheng, president of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, said Tuesday.

The debt is composed of 10.7 trillion yuan of local government debt and 6.8 trillion yuan of central government debt, Yang said at a press conference on the sidelines of China's annual parliamentary session.