Foreign demand for long-term U.S. securities weakened in February but China boosted purchases of U.S. government bonds for a second straight month, the U.S. Treasury said on Monday.

The United States attracted a net long-term capital inflow of $10.14 billion in February after drawing an upwardly revised $102.39 billion in the first month of 2012.

Including short-dated assets such as bills, foreigners snapped up $107.67 billion from a downwardly revised $3.06 billion inflow for January.

China, the largest foreign U.S. creditor, increased Treasury holdings by $12.7 billion to $1.179 trillion. That was the second straight monthly increase after five months of net selling.

Japan, the second largest foreign holder of Treasurys, boosted holdings to a record $1.096 trillion.