China Oct FX purchases fall first time in 4-year

BEIJING: China's foreign exchange purchases, a gauge of foreign capital inflows, fell by 24.9 billion yuan ($3.9 billion) in October, the first monthly drop in four years, according to central bank data published on Monday.

The last monthly drop was recorded in December 2007.

The decline could imply a fall in foreign capital inflows to the world's No.2 economy, although the foreign exchange regulator said on Monday that it would continue to crack down on illegal hot money flows.