BEIJING, April 7 (Xinhua) -- China's forex reserves rose for the second month in a row in March, signaling eased capital flight pressure, central bank data showed Friday.
Forex reserves climbed to 3.0091 trillion U.S. dollars at the end of March from 3.0051 trillion dollars a month earlier, according to statistics from the People's Bank of China.
This was the first time the reserves expanded for two months consecutively since April 2016.
The country's forex regulator said cross-border capital flows became more balanced in March, citing overall stability in international financial markets.
In the first quarter of 2017, forex reserves dropped by a total of 1.4 billion dollars, a markedly smaller decline than in the previous two quarters, said the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) in a statement.
It showed the pressure of capital flight has been alleviated as the Chinese economy stabilized, the SAFE said.
It predicted the size of forex reserves to become more stable in the future as the economy maintains relatively fast growth and the country's current account surplus stays in a reasonable range.
There had been growing concerns about capital flowing out of the Chinese market in the second half of 2016, when the economy was facing looming downward pressures and the Chinese yuan was in the middle of a losing streak against the U.S. dollar.
In January, China's forex reserves declined below the closely watched 3-trillion-dollar mark for the first time since February 2011.
However, concerns about capital outflows have receded lately, with the Chinese economy on a firmer footing, supported by a string of upbeat data including industrial profits, factory activity and fixed asset investment.
A single purchase
