China's forex reserves rise for 8th straight month

[File photo: VCG]

China's forex reserves rose for the eighth month in a row in September as pressure from capital outflow eased, data from the central bank showed Monday.

Forex reserves totaled 3.1085 trillion U.S. dollars by the end of September, increasing 16.98 billion dollars from a month earlier, according to data from the People's Bank of China. Last month's increase followed a gain of 10.81 billion dollars in August.

It was the first time the reserves climbed eight months in a row since June 2014, bringing the total to its highest level since October of 2016.

In January, China's forex reserves plunged below 3 trillion U.S. dollars, but as the economy stands on a firmer footing and the yuan continues to stabilize, the stockpile has increased steadily since February.

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) said Monday that economic growth has remained stable and sound since the beginning of the year and the yuan has appreciated steadily, while cross-border capital flows stayed stable, which contributed to the forex reserves' gradual rebound.

The country's economy grew 6.9 percent for the first half of the year, with consumption, services and new innovation-driven economic sectors taking up larger roles in the economy, prompting global institutions such as the IMF to raise GDP forecasts for the country.

The GDP growth rate for the third quarter is due to be released on Oct. 19. Song Yu, an economist with Goldman Sachs Gao Hua Securities, forecast third quarter growth of 6.9 percent.

Looking forward, as the country continues financial risk control and pushes forward financial reform, and the financial sector provides more support for the real economy, economic and financial sectors will maintain healthy development, contributing to sustained stabilization of balance of international payments and forex reserves, SAFE said.

Monday's data also showed that the country's gold reserves fell to 76.01 billion dollars by the end of September from 77.7 billion dollars a month ago.