By the end of 2002, China's foreign exchange reserves had reached 286.4 billion US dollars, anincrease of 74.2 billion dollars over the previous year.
Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of China's central bank, the People's Bank of China, said at the bank's annual meeting held in Beijing this week that the country's foreign exchange management was continuously strengthened and improved: procedures were simplifiedto convenience trade and investment; the foreign exchange market order was further rectified; efforts were made to reinforce analysis and supervision on international payments, as well as theeffective management of foreign exchange reserves.
He said that in 2002 China fulfilled its promises to the World Trade Organization, and the country's financial opening and international cooperation in the financial field progressed smoothly. So far 60 foreign banks have been approved to conduct forex businesses without regional or client restrictions, and 53 foreign banks have been allowed to conduct RMB businesses in nine Chinese cities.
He said that this year China would continue to improve its forex administration and maintain balanced international payments.