MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

China's international reserves in May reach US$ 3,22 trillion

The People's Bank of China

Chinese gold and foreign currency reserves, the world’s largest, rose more than expected last month, according to official data published on Monday. The nation’s foreign exchange reserves increased by US$23.62 billion to US$3.22 trillion in May against US$ 3.198 trillion recorded in April.

The growth is partially attributed to the weakened US dollar. The Chinese national currency, the Yuan, rose 1.6% against the greenback in May, while the dollar dropped 1.6% during last month versus a basket of other major currencies.

China’s gold holdings stood at 62.64 million fine troy ounces at the end of May, unchanged from the previous month. The value of the gold reserves surged to US$ 119.02 billion at the end of May from US$ 110.73 billion in late April.

The world’s largest forex reserves continued to rise as China has been gradually recovering from the pandemic-related crisis. Last month, the country’s imports grew at their fastest pace in 10 years, fueled by surging demand for raw materials. However, export growth slowed more than expected, weighed by disruptions caused by Covid-19 cases at the country’s major southern ports.

The ten countries behind China with the largest international reserves are Japan with US$ 1,378 trillion, Switzerland, US$ 1,076 trillion; Russia US$ 605,900 billion; India US$ 598,165 billion; Taiwan US$ 541,110 billion; Hong Kong US$ 490.600 billion; South Korea, US$ 452,300 billion; Saudi Arabia US$ 440,728 billion; Singapore US$ 385,708 billion, and Brazil, US$ 350.996 billion.

Regarding gold holdings, United States is number one with 8,134 tons, followed by Germany with 3,364; Italy, 2,451.8; France, 2,436; Russia 2,295; China 1,948; Switzerland 1,040; Japan 765; India 687,8 and Netherlands with 612,5 tons.