Q: The latest data on foreign exchange reserves disseminated by the People's Bank of China show that China's foreign exchange reserves by the end of November 2018 rose by USD 8.6 billion month on month. My question is what caused such changes in foreign exchange reserves and how the foreign exchange reserves will change in the future?

A: By the end of November 2018, China's foreign exchange reserves stood at USD 3,061.7 billion, up by USD 8.6 billion or 0.3% from the end of October.

In November, China's balance of payments continued to maintain steady operation.  Affected by change in expectation of US monetary policies and fluctuations of international oil prices, bond prices of major countries rose slightly on the whole, while the US dollar index increased marginally amid fluctuations. Due to the combined impact of exchange rate translation and asset price changes etc., the foreign exchange reserves witnessed an increase.

Since the beginning of this year, the instabilities and uncertainties in the external environment have increased remarkably. However, China's economy has maintained overall stability and made steady progress. The RMB exchange rate has showed an increased two-way floating elasticity, supply and demand in the foreign exchange market has maintained basic equilibrium, and cross-border capital flows have been stable on the whole.

Looking ahead, although there are many uncertainties in the global economy and finance, the long-term positive fundamentals of China's economy has remained unchanged. As China continues to expand reform and opening-up, the impetus and momentum for China's economic development will be further strengthened, thus laying a solid foundation for the overall stability of the foreign exchange market. Under the combined impact of internal and external factors, China's foreign exchange reserves are expected to remain stable amid fluctuations.