China's November Foreign Exchange Reserves Reach $3.178 Trillion, Largest in 4 Years... Export Growth Also Highest in 3 Years

Imports decreased compared to October while exports increased by over 21%... Trade balance surplus of 75.4 billion dollars

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] China's foreign exchange reserves in November reached $3.178 trillion, marking the highest level in about four years.

On the 7th, the People's Bank of China, the central bank, announced that China's foreign exchange reserves in November were $3.178 trillion, an increase of more than $50 billion from October's $3.128 trillion. This is the largest amount since August 2016 and more than double the $22 billion increase predicted by experts.

The People's Bank of China analyzed that the increase in foreign exchange reserves was due to China's trade surplus, the weakening of the US dollar, and the inflow of dollars into China's stock and bond markets.

In fact, China's export growth rate in November was the highest in about three years. According to the General Administration of Customs of China, exports in November amounted to $268.07 billion, a sharp increase of 21.1% compared to the same period last year. This far exceeded the 11.4% increase in October and the experts' forecast of 12.0%.

November imports were $192.65 billion, increasing by only 4.5% compared to last year. This was lower than the 4.7% increase in October and the forecast of 6.1%. As a result, the overall trade surplus in November recorded $75.43 billion.

Bloomberg reported on China's November trade surplus, stating, "China's exports in November rose to the highest level since early 2018, and the trade surplus also reached an all-time high," adding, "This shows how global demand related to the COVID-19 pandemic is helping the recovery of the world's second-largest economy, China."

Meanwhile, the value of the yuan is rising. In the Hong Kong offshore market, the yuan-to-dollar exchange rate fell to 6.5018 yuan at one point on the day, the lowest level since June 2018.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.