Chinese banks' net forex sales narrow in October

BEIJING - Chinese banks continued to see net foreign exchange sales in October, but the volume narrowed significantly from that of September in a sign of easing capital outflows.

Chinese lenders bought $128.3 billion worth of foreign currency in October and sold $148.4 billion, resulting in a net sale of $20.1 billion, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) said in a statement.

The deficit marked a significant drop from September's $109.2 billion.

The banks sold a net 190.9 billion yuan ($30 billion) of foreign exchange on behalf of clients, down from the 729.6 billion yuan seen a month earlier.

In the first ten months, Chinese banks' net foreign exchange sales came in at $321.6 billion.

Despite signs of capital outflows as China's growth is tempered, the SAFE has repeatedly stressed that the phenomenon is normal and does not mean capital flight.