On November 7 , 2016 , debt held by the public was $14.3 trillion or about 76 % of the previous 12 months of GDP . Intragovernmental holdings stood at $5.4 trillion , giving a combined total gross national debt of $19.8 trillion or about 106 % of the previous 12 months of GDP ; $6.2 trillion or approximately 45 % of the debt held by the public was owned by foreign investors , the largest of which were Japan and China at about $1.09 trillion for Japan and $1.06 trillion for China as of December 2016 .

Question: who owns the majority of the us debt
Answer: Japan and China