China News Service, January 22. Wang Chunying, deputy director and spokesperson of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, said at a press conference on the 22nd that in 2020, in terms of U.S. dollars, banks will settle foreign exchanges of US$20493 billion and sell foreign exchanges of US$1.8905 billion. 158.7 billion US dollars.

  On the morning of the 22nd, the State Council Information Office held a press conference on the data of foreign exchange receipts and payments in 2020.

According to Wang Chunying, according to the data of bank foreign exchange settlement and sales, in 2020, in U.S. dollars, bank settlements were US$20493 billion, and foreign exchange sales were US$1.8905 billion, with a surplus of US$158.7 billion; Foreign exchange was 13.0 trillion yuan, with a surplus of 1078.3 billion yuan.

According to the data of foreign-related receipts and payments of banks on behalf of clients, in US dollars, the foreign-related income of banks on behalf of clients was US$44124 billion, external payments were US$4295.5 billion, and the surplus of foreign-related receipts and payments was US$116.9 billion; in RMB, the foreign-related income of banks on behalf of clients was 30.3 trillion yuan. , Foreign payments were 29.6 trillion yuan, and foreign-related receipts and payments had a surplus of 784.6 billion yuan.

  Wang Chunying said that in 2020, my country's foreign exchange revenue and expenditure will mainly show the following characteristics:

  First, banks have shown surplus in foreign exchange settlement and sales, and cross-border funds fluctuate in both directions.

In 2020, banks had a surplus of US$158.7 billion in foreign exchange settlement and sales, and a surplus of US$116.9 billion in foreign-related payments on behalf of their clients. This was mainly due to the effective and effective prevention and control of the epidemic in my country, which steadily promoted the resumption of work and production. Foreign trade was significantly better than expected and the import and export surplus increased. At the same time, the service trade deficit narrowed due to the impact of the global epidemic.

In phases, banks’ foreign exchange settlement and sales had a surplus of US$78.6 billion in the first half of the year, and the surplus in the second half of the year increased slightly by US$1.6 billion compared with the first half. The market turbulence has resulted in a surplus since the second quarter.

  Second, the sales exchange rate has been stable and slightly decreased, and the willingness of enterprises to raise foreign exchange financing is generally stable.

In 2020, the selling exchange rate, which measures the willingness to purchase foreign exchange, is the ratio of the customer's purchase of foreign exchange from the bank to the customer's foreign exchange expenditure at 65%, a year-on-year decrease of 3 percentage points.

From the perspective of foreign exchange financing willingness, on the one hand, as of the end of 2020, the balance of domestic foreign exchange loans of Chinese banks increased by 24.3 billion U.S. dollars compared with the end of 2019, including a decrease of 28.1 billion U.S. dollars in the second half of the year; on the other hand, imported overseas payment, forward letters of credit, etc. The balance of cross-border trade foreign currency financing fell by US$16.8 billion, of which the decline was US$12.6 billion in the second half of the year.

  Third, the settlement exchange rate remained stable, and the willingness of market entities to hold foreign exchange increased overall.

In 2020, the exchange rate that measures the willingness to settle foreign exchange, that is, the ratio of the customer's foreign exchange sales to the bank to the customer's foreign exchange income is 64%, which is basically the same as in 2019.

As of the end of 2020, the balance of domestic foreign exchange deposits of entities such as enterprises and individuals increased by US$64 billion from the end of 2019.

  Fourth, the increase in corporate hedging ratio shows that market players have increased their risk-neutral awareness.

In 2020, the corporate hedging ratio [(forward contract amount + option contract amount)/(total spot foreign exchange settlement + forward contract amount + option contract amount)] was 17.1%, an increase of 2.7 percentage points from 2019.

  Fifth, the scale of foreign exchange reserves is basically stable.

As of the end of 2020, my country's foreign exchange reserves totaled 3216.5 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 108.6 billion U.S. dollars from the end of 2019.

Changes in the scale of foreign exchange reserves are mainly affected by valuation factors such as exchange rate translation and asset price changes.

my country’s foreign exchange reserves are important participants and responsible long-term investors in the global financial market. They invest in the international financial market in accordance with the principles of marketization, respect international market rules and industry practices, and maintain and promote the stability and development of the international financial market.

Regarding gold reserves, gold has multiple attributes of finance and commodities, and has always been an important part of the diversification of international reserves in various countries.

my country's gold reserves have played an active role in adjusting and optimizing the overall risk-return characteristics of the international reserve portfolio.

  Wang Chunying stated that in 2021, the SAFE will fully implement the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Plenary Sessions of the 19th Central Committee, and the Central Economic Work Conference, based on the new development stage, implement the new development concept, and build New development pattern, better coordinate development and security, deepen reform and opening up in the foreign exchange field, prevent the risk of abnormal cross-border capital flows, and maintain the stability of the foreign exchange market and the national economic and financial security.