China's appetite for foreign exchange expands

BEIJING - China's February deficit in foreign exchange transactions rose from the amount registered in January.

Forex purchases by banks stood at $124.2 billion, while sales stood at $132.5 billion in February, a transaction deficit of $8.2 billion, up from $900 million in January, according to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE).

"Domestic forex supply and demand stood generally balanced last month," the SAFE said in a statement.

In the first two months, Chinese banks bought $279.8 billion of foreign currency and sold $288.9 billion.

Fluctuation in foreign exchange transactions is the main contributor to changes in China's foreign exchange reserves.

Reserves came in at $3.1 trillion in February, down $27 billion from January.