China's Forex Reserves Rose for Second Straight Month in December

BEIJING--China's foreign-exchange reserves rose for the second straight month in December amid eased capital outflow pressure.

The country's hoard of foreign exchanges increased by $38.03 billion to $3.217 trillion at the end of 2020, according to data from the People's Bank of China. The result was higher than the $32 billion increase expected by seven economists polled by The Wall Street Journal.

China's yuan appreciated against the U.S. dollar by 0.65% last month. The stronger yuan and weak dollar may have helped boost valuations of some assets invested with China's reserves and reduced the need for the central bank to use foreign-exchange reserves to defend the Chinese currency, economists say.

They also said that China's exports, which likely stayed strong in December, could have produced surplus to add to the nation's reserves.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

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