BEIJING, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- China's commercial banks saw a net forex settlement surplus of 81.8 billion yuan, or 12.1 billion U.S. dollars, in January, official data showed.
This marks the first surplus in seven months, compared with a forex settlement deficit of 48.8 billion yuan in December, according to data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE).
Forex purchases by banks stood at 1.23 trillion yuan last month, while sales reached 1.15 trillion yuan, resulting in a surplus of 81.8 billion yuan.
The Chinese banks' forex settlement deficit hit 56 billion U.S. dollars in 2018, shrinking 50 percent from 2017.
The forex market supply and demand were basically balanced in January, with prices of major financial assets going up, said SAFE spokesperson Wang Chunying.
