Chinese banks continue amassing US dollars

Attain forex surplus for seventh straight month.

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange said Chinese banks bought more foreign currency than they sold in March. Institutions and individuals exchanged US$152.2 billion in foreign currency for renminbi through Chinese banks while buying US$107.6 billion in foreign currency from financial institutions in March.

The banks' March foreign exchange surplus stood at US$44.6 billion and was practically unchanged from February and lower than the US$92.6 billion in January.

Analysts said institutions and individuals have been selling foreign exchange since September as they expect the renminbi to appreciate.

The People’s Bank of China on April 11 said China’s outstanding foreign exchange reserves stood at US$3.44 trillion in March, up US$130 billion from 2012. The quarterly growth was equivalent to the full-year growth in 2012.