China's foreign exchange reserves rose for a 10th straight month in November, though slightly less than market expectations, as tight regulations and a strong yuan continued to discourage capital outflows. Capital flight had been seen as a major risk for China at the start of the year, but a combination of tighter capital controls and a faltering dollar helped the yuan stage a strong turnaround, bolstering confidence in the economy.
Reserves rose $10 billion in November to $3.119 trillion, compared with an increase of $700 million in October, central bank data showed on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had expected reserves to rise by $11 billion to $3.120 trillion.
It was the first time that China's reserves have climbed for 10 months in a row since June 2014, and brought its stockpile - the world's largest - to the highest since October last year. The State Administration of Foreign Exchange said the appreciation of non-US dollar currencies and changes in asset prices were the main reasons behind the rise in forex reserves.
Valuation effects due to the dollar's drop against major currencies such as the euro and yen are also behind the rebound in China's reserves. The dollar tumbled 1.6 percent against major trading currencies in November. The yuan has gained about 5 percent against the dollar this year, following a drop of 6.5 percent in 2016, its biggest annual drop since 1994.
China's foreign exchange reserves dropped by nearly $1 trillion from a peak of $3.99 trillion in June 2014 to $2.998 trillion in January this year as it sought to shore up the yuan and reduce capital outflows. But reserves have since climbed by $121 billion.