China News Service, Beijing, March 7 (Xia Bin) China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange (hereinafter referred to as the "Foreign Exchange Bureau") released data showing that as of the end of February 2020, China's foreign exchange reserves were approximately 310.6 billion U.S. dollars, a decrease of approximately 12% from the beginning of the year Million US dollars, a decrease of about 0.04%.

Taiyuan, Shanxi, bank staff are counting currency. (Profile picture) Photo by Zhang Yun

In addition, as of the end of February 2020, China's gold reserves were 62.64 million ounces, flat for five consecutive months; in terms of SDR (Special Drawing Rights), China's foreign exchange reserves were 222.2259 billion SDRs, a decrease of 346 million SDRs from the end of January.

Foreign exchange bureau spokesman and chief economist Wang Chunying told reporters that in February, China's foreign exchange market operation was generally stable. In terms of international financial markets, due to the global spread of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the economic situation of major countries, and expectations of monetary policies, the dollar index and bond prices of major countries have risen. Valuation factors such as exchange rate translation and changes in asset prices are the main reasons for the change in the size of the foreign exchange reserve for the month.

Wen Bin, chief researcher of China Minsheng Bank, believes that in the next stage, the size of China's foreign exchange reserves still has a stable foundation. Since March, the spread of the epidemic abroad has accelerated, the US dollar index has fallen, the stock market has plummeted, the US 10-year Treasury yield has fallen below 1%, the spread between China and the United States has widened, the appreciation of the RMB is expected to rise, and international capital is bullish on the RMB Assets and foreign capital continue to flow in.

Data show that since this year, the cumulative net inflow of northbound funds has exceeded 55 billion yuan (RMB, the same below), overseas institutions have increased their RMB bonds, and the denomination of renminbi bonds held by overseas institutions at the end of February reached 191.6 billion yuan, an increase of 65.717 billion yuan from the previous month. Positive growth for 15 consecutive months.

Wen Bin said that with the intensification of counter-cyclical control, various policies and measures such as stabilization of foreign trade and foreign investment have taken effect, which will help keep the foreign exchange market running smoothly and promote cross-border capital flows to maintain balance. The scale of foreign exchange reserves is expected to remain generally stable , Can withstand various risk shocks. (Finish)