(Yicai Global) Oct. 22 -- China’s cross-border capital flow and foreign exchange market were stable in the third quarter, a chief economist at the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said.

Cross-border capital flows and foreign exchange markets have both remained stable in the three months ended Sept. 30 amid China’s overall economic recovery and the expansion of the surplus of foreign transactions closely related to the economy, including the trade of goods and direct investments, which brought more stable cross-border capital inflows and relatively stable exchange rate expectations, said Wang Chunying, deputy administrator and spokesperson of the SAFE.

In terms of quantity, there have been steady and small inflows of cross-border funds, said Wang. Among them, non-bank entities recorded an average monthly net cross-border inflow of USD15.3 billion, while banks had an average monthly surplus of USD14.7 billion, indicating that domestic firms and individuals have a slight surplus in foreign exchange balance and foreign exchange supply and demand in general, she noted.

In terms of prices, the Chinese yuan’s exchange rate has also been stable, Wang noted. In the volatile international financial market, the stability of the yuan is stronger than that of most developed and emerging economies. The US dollar index rose 4.7 percent in the first three quarters, with all major countries’ currencies being depreciated against the US dollar. The emerging markets’ currency index fell 4.6 percent, while the yuan rose 1.2 percent. The yuan’s central parity strengthened to 6.4 against the US dollar, hitting its high in four months.

The trade surplus of Chinese yuan-denominated goods rose 8.6 percent in the third quarter, Wang said. However, affected by the pandemic, spending on traveling and studying abroad was low, with a small trade deficit in the service sector. China’s actual use of foreign capital was USD129.3 billion in the first three quarters, up 25 percent from last year.

Editor: Futura Costaglione