Economic fundamentals and a stable yuan will keep Chinas foreign exchange reserves basically stable, a central bank official said.
Forex reserves had been on the rise for 12 months before Februarys decline, Pan Gongsheng, deputy governor of the Peoples Bank of China (PBOC), told a press conference on the sidelines of the ongoing annual legislative session.
The slight decline in February was caused by both the rise of the U.S. dollar exchange rate index and the falling bond price index in the international market, Pan said.
The U.S. dollar exchange rate index rose 1.7 percent last month while stock markets in the United States, euro zone and Japan all dropped by 4 - 5 percent.
Chinas forex reserves stood at 3.1 trillion U.S. dollars in February, down nearly 27 billion U.S. dollars from January.
The forex stockpile has increased steadily since February 2017 after dipping below 3 trillion dollars in January last year.