BEIJING, April 15 (Xinhua) -- China's yuan funds outstanding for foreign exchange dropped for an eighth straight month in March, according to central bank data.
The funds stood at 21.3 trillion yuan (about 3.17 trillion U.S. dollars) at the end of last month, falling 459 million yuan from February, according to the People's Bank of China.
As the Chinese yuan is not freely convertible under the capital account, the central bank has to purchase foreign currency generated by trade surplus and foreign investment in the country, adding funds to the money market.
Such funds are an important indicator of cross-border foreign capital flows and domestic yuan liquidity.
A similar measure of capital flow, the country's foreign exchange reserves edged up 0.3 percent from February to 3.0988 trillion U.S. dollars by the end of March.
