The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) has recently released the data on the purchases and sales of foreign exchange by banks and the cross-border receipts and payments by non-banking sectors for August 2026. SAFE Deputy Administrator and Press Spokesperson Li Bin answered media questions on the foreign exchange market situation for August 2026.

Q: How has China’s foreign exchange market performed since August?

A: Since August, global financial markets have continued the volatile trend, with increased fluctuations in the bond and foreign exchange markets of some economies, while China’s foreign exchange market has maintained stable operations. The details are as follows:

First, the scale of cross-border receipts and payments continued to grow, and cross-border capital maintained net inflows. In August, the total cross-border receipts and payments of non-banking sectors, including enterprises and individuals, reached USD 1.5 trillion, continuing the rapid growth trend since the beginning of this year. Net cross-border capital inflows reached USD 62.4 billion, a slight month-on-month increase of 4%. From the perspective of main channels: Firstly, net capital inflows under trade in goods stayed at a relatively high level. Secondly, the increase in outbound study and travel during the summer vacation pushed the deficit of trade in services up by 6% month-on-month. Thirdly, the dividend and profit remittances by foreign-invested enterprises narrowed by 23% month-on-month, falling back from the seasonal high. Fourthly, two-way cross-border direct investment was basically stable.

Second, foreign exchange market trading volume increased steadily, and market expectations remained generally stable. In August, the trading volume of China’s foreign exchange market reached USD 3.9 trillion, maintaining a relatively high scale. Banks registered a surplus of USD 48.5 billion in purchases and sales of foreign exchange, mainly due to the net inflow of foreign exchange funds. In August, the foreign exchange sales ratio for foreign exchange receipts by enterprises was 61.5%, 2.7 percentage points lower than the average level of the first seven months in this year. The willingness of enterprises to sell and hold foreign exchange stayed relatively stable, and market expectations remained generally stable.