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China sees surpluses in current, capital accounts in 2008

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-04-24 15:12

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) said Friday that China reported surpluses both in current and capital accounts last year, although the country witnessed the first decline in the growth of its forex reserves since 2000.

China reported a surplus of $426.1 billion on current account in 2008, with an increase of 15 percent, the SAFE said in a report on China's balance of payments in 2008.

The country's surplus on capital account was $19 billion, down 74 percent year on year.

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The administration said the country received a capital inflow of $94.3 billion from foreign direct investment and $42.7 billion from securities investment, but saw an outflow of $121.1 billion in forms of "other" investment, which was not identified by the administration.

China's foreign exchange reserves stood at $1.946 trillion at the end of last year, up $417.8 billion from a year ago, the SAFE said.

The country's forex reserves have climbed to $1.9537 trillion by the end of March, according to latest figures released by the country's central bank.

The SAFE figure announced Friday is consistent with that reported by the People's Bank of China in January.

Hu Xiaolian, head of the SAFE, said there were no big fluctuations in the country's balance of payments in the first quarter, which was still in surplus.

However, capital inflows into the country continued to slow down in the first quarter, the same as in the second half of last year, she said.

Hu, also vice governor of the central bank, explained that monthly fluctuations in forex reserves this year were a result of changes in the country's trade surplus, in international exchange rates and in prices of larges commodities.

She said the basic pattern of capital flows of China remained unchanged.