China Nov FX reserves climb to 4-year high as yuan firms

BEIJING: China's foreign currency reserves rose more than expected to the highest in more than four years in November as the country's continued economic recovery supported the yuan.

China's foreign exchange reserves, the largest in the world, rose $50.51 billion in November to $3.178 trillion - the highest since August 2016, according to data from the People's Bank of China on Monday.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected foreign currency reserves to rise to $3.150 trillion from $3.128 trillion in October.

The rise in China's reserves was due to the dollar's fall against other major currencies, and rises in global stocks and bonds, the foreign exchange regulator said in a statement.

The U.S. dollar index fell 2.3pc in November as investors switched to riskier assets on optimism over a faster global recovery as COVID-19 vaccinations are rolled out.

The Chinese yuan rose 1.7pc against the dollar last month.

China's exports rose at the fastest pace in almost three years in November, as strong global demand for goods needed to ride out the pandemic handed the world's second-largest economy a record trade surplus.

Foreign inflows into Chinese stocks and bonds have also been strong as China leads the global recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

China held 62.64 million fine troy ounces of gold at the end of November, unchanged from October.

The value of the gold reserves fell to $110.41 billion at the end of November from $117.89 billion at end-October.