China's Foreign Exchange Market Remained Steady in July

On August 17, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) released data on banks' foreign-exchange settlement and sales and banks' foreign-exchange receipts and payments on behalf of clients for July 2026. The data show that in July 2026, banks purchased foreign exchange worth RMB 1.8097 trillion and sold RMB 1.6856 trillion. From January to July 2026, banks cumulatively purchased RMB 12.6020 trillion and sold RMB 10.6048 trillion.

In US-dollar terms, in July 2026 banks purchased foreign exchange worth US$266.3 billion and sold US$248 billion. From January to July 2026, cumulative bank purchases were US$1.8316 trillion and cumulative sales US$1.5422 trillion.

In July 2026, banks' foreign-exchange receipts on behalf of clients totaled RMB 5.8837 trillion and outward payments totaled RMB 5.4770 trillion. From January to July 2026, cumulative foreign-exchange receipts were RMB 38.3128 trillion and cumulative outward payments were RMB 36.1993 trillion.

In US-dollar terms, in July 2026 foreign-exchange receipts were US$865.6 billion and outward payments were US$805.8 billion. From January to July 2026, cumulative foreign-exchange receipts were US$5.5712 trillion and cumulative outward payments were US$5.2642 trillion.

Regarding the foreign-exchange market situation in July 2026, Li Bin, SAFE deputy administrator and spokesperson, said that since July, the external environment has become complex and volatile, geopolitical uncertainty has risen, and international financial markets have continued to fluctuate. China's foreign-exchange market has remained stable, foreign-related receipts and payments have expanded steadily, market expectations have generally remained stable, and foreign-exchange transactions have been rational and orderly.

According to Li Bin, in terms of foreign-related transaction scale, in July cross-border receipts and payments of non-bank sectors such as enterprises and individuals totaled US$1.7 trillion, up 20% year on year; forex market turnover reached US$4.3 trillion, up 8% year on year—both at high levels. In terms of cross-border capital flows, in July net inflows of non-bank sectors reached US$59.8 billion. Among them, net inflows under the goods-trade account remained high, while outflows under services trade, foreign-funded enterprise profit distributions and other items remained steady. In terms of forex market supply and demand, in July banks recorded a settlement and sales surplus of US$18.3 billion; enterprises conducted settlement and sales rationally according to actual demand and market conditions, and forex market supply and demand were basically balanced.

Source: Securities Times Daily