According to statistical data released by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), in 2010 the amount of foreign exchange settlement and sales by banks on behalf of clients amounted to USD1330.4 billion and USD932.7 billion respectively. The surplus amounted to USD397.7 billion. In December 2010, the amount of foreign exchange settlement and sales by banks on behalf of clients amounted to USD146.2 billion and USD94.7 billion respectively. The surplus amounted to USD51.5 billion.

In the same year, foreign-related receipts and payments by banks on behalf of clients amounted to USD1885.3 billion and USD1587.3 billion respectively; and the surplus of foreign-related receipts and payments reached USD298 billion. The top 5 currencies in terms of aggregate foreign-related receipts and payments for the year were: USD (83.18%), Euro (5.41%), HKD (5.12%), JPY (3.08%), and RMB (1.69%). In December 2010, foreign-related receipts and payments by banks on behalf of clients amounted to USD212 billion and USD183 billion respectively and the surplus reached USD29 billion.

Appendix: Definition of terms and interpretation.

Balance of payments (BOP) refers to all economic transactions occurring between residents and non-residents in China, including all financial transactions and barter transactions resulting in any changes to assets and liabilities between them.

Foreign exchange settlement and sales by banks on behalf of clients refers to the business of foreign exchange settlement and sales conducted by designated foreign exchange banks for their clients, excluding data on foreign exchange settlement and sales conducted by designated foreign exchange banks on their own behalf and data on inter-bank foreign exchange market transactions. The time when the conversion between the Renminbi and the foreign currency occurs shall be regarded as the time point for the statistics. Specifically, settlement of foreign exchange is the process by which the owners of the foreign exchange sell the exchange to the designated foreign exchange banks; the sale of foreign exchange is the process by which the exchange is sold by the designated foreign exchange banks to the users of the foreign exchange. The balance between the settlement and sales of foreign exchange is the offset balance between the settlement and sales of foreign exchange, which will be balanced by the banks through bank transactions on the inter-bank foreign exchange market. This is the major reason for changes in the amount of foreign exchange reserves, which is not equivalent to the net change in foreign exchange reserves during the same period.

The banks settlements and sales of foreign exchange for clients are not counted in compliance with the principle applicable to transactions between residents and non-residents, which only includes transactions between banks and their clients in domestic and foreign currencies, i.e., exchanges and transactions between RMB and foreign exchange. Their statistical scope differs from that of the transactions under the balance of payments.

Foreign-related receipts and payments by banks on behalf of clients refers to receipts and payments occurring between domestic non-bank resident institutions/ individuals (collectively called the non-bank section) and non-resident institutions/individuals through domestic banks, exclusive of the receipts and payments in cash and foreign-related receipts and payments by the banks themselves. They include: cross-border collections and payments between non-bank sections and non-residents through domestic banks (including RMB and foreign exchange), and domestic collections and payments between non-bank sections and non-residents through domestic banks (currently including collections and payments in foreign exchange and collections and payments in RMB under the RMB settlement item for cross-border trade). The statistics are collected at the time when the clients conduct the foreign-related collections and payments at the domestic banks. Specifically, foreign-related collections by banks for their clients refer to funds collected by non-bank sections from non-residents via domestic banks; the banksexternal payments for their clients refer to the funds paid by non-bank sections to non-residents through domestic banks.