BEIJING, July 14 – China\’s foreign exchange reserves, already the world\’s largest, rose to 1.8088 trillion dollars at the end of June, the central bank said Monday.
The figure was up 35.7 percent from a year earlier and more than 18 percent higher against the end of 2007, according to data posted on the website of the People\’s Bank of China.
The year-on-year growth eased from the 39.9 percent recorded in the first quarter of this year, reflecting a drop in China\’s trade surplus and the emerging effects of government measures to curb speculative capital inflows.
China\’s forex reserves grew by 280.6 billion dollars from January to June, 14.3 billion dollars more than the growth over the first half of 2007, the bank said.
The nation\’s forex reserves increased by 11.9 billion dollars in June, the statement said.
Official concern has been rising over a surge in speculative "hot" money inflows into the country, spurred by the continued strengthening of the yuan.
Beijing said earlier this month it would launch a forex monitoring system to scrutinise checks on the authenticity of export transactions as part of its efforts to stem the hot money inflows.
The government said last week that China\’s trade surplus fell by nearly 12 percent in the first half of 2008, mainly due to a slowing global economy and the yuan\’s appreciation.
