The SAFE recently released preliminary data on China ’s Balance of Payments Statement for the second quarter and the first half of 2011.

The current account and the capital and financial account (including net errors and omissions) posted a "twin surplus" in Q2 of 2011, and international reserves maintained their growing momentum. In Q2, the surplus under the current account reached USD69.6 billion. Specifically, according to the statistical coverage of the balance of payments, the surpluses in goods, income, and current transfers reached USD68.5 billion, USD4.4 billion, and USD7.5 billion, respectively, whereas the deficit in trade in services amounted to USD10.8 billion. Meanwhile, China ’s surplus under the capital and financial account (including net errors and omissions) totaled USD67 billion. In particular, net inflows of direct investments amounted to USD40.2 billion. International reserve assets posted an increase of USD136.5 billion. Specifically, transactions in foreign exchange reserve assets registered an increase of USD136.9 billion (exclusive of the influence of non-transaction changes in value such as exchange rates and prices) and the reserve position in the IMF registered a decrease of USD200 million.

In H1 of 2011 the surplus under the current account was USD98.4 billion and that under the capital and financial account (including net errors and omissions) was USD179.3 billion, whereas international reserves registered an increase of USD277.7 billion.