China's cross-border capital inflows ease to 40.7 bln USD in September

BEIJING, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's non-bank sectors, including enterprises and individuals, recorded net cross-border capital inflows of 40.7 billion U.S. dollars in September, down 35 percent from August, as trade in goods continued to generate substantial inflows, the country's foreign exchange regulator said on Tuesday.

Cross-border receipts and payments rose 9 percent month on month, while foreign exchange settlement and sales increased 17 percent, according to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE).

Banks settled 294.2 billion dollars in foreign exchange and sold 238 billion dollars in September. In the first nine months, settlement totaled nearly 2.38 trillion dollars, against sales of 1.98 trillion dollars, SAFE data showed.

Li Bin, deputy head and spokesperson of SAFE, said that China's foreign exchange market remained generally stable amid continued volatility in international financial markets. Net inflows under trade in goods remained substantial, while the services trade deficit was relatively stable, he added.

Strong demand for overseas travel among Chinese residents and for trips to China among foreign visitors kept travel receipts and expenditures high, Li said.

Outward direct investment by Chinese companies increased, with financing from domestic firms to overseas affiliates rising particularly rapidly, Li said.

The trend reflected changes in domestic and overseas interest rates and, to some extent, the renminbi's growing role as a financing currency, he added.