Chinese banks report forex settlement deficit in 2024

BEIJING - China's commercial banks saw a forex settlement deficit of $110.3 billion in 2024, official data showed Tuesday.

In yuan terms, forex purchases by banks reached 16.54 trillion yuan ($2.3 trillion), while sales stood at around 17.33 trillion yuan, data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) showed.

In December alone, these commercial banks saw a net forex settlement deficit of 76.8 billion yuan, according to the administration.

In 2024, the balance of payments maintained a basic equilibrium, Li Bin, deputy head of SAFE, told a press conference.

Looking ahead, Li expressed optimism about the stability of China's balance of payments, highlighting the increasing resilience of the forex market and the favorable conditions for a stable RMB exchange rate.