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BEIJING, March 30 (Xinhua) — China’s current account surplus was 196.4 billion U.S. dollars last year, China’s foreign exchange regulator said on Thursday.
The State Administration of Foreign Exchange said in a statement that the surplus in goods trade fell 14% from 2015 to $494.1 billion last year, while the deficit in services trade was $244.2 billion, up 12% year-on-year.
The current account surplus was 1.8 percent of the country’s gross domestic product last year, the regulator said.
The State Administration of Foreign Exchange said that in 2016, the capital and financial account surplus was US$26.3 billion, the capital account deficit was US$300 million, and the non-reserve financial account deficit was US$417 billion.
Reserve assets, mainly foreign exchange reserves, decreased by US$443.7 billion last year.
According to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, China’s current account surplus was US$11.8 billion in the fourth quarter of last year, down from US$69.3 billion in the third quarter.
The State Administration of Foreign Exchange said that in 2017, China will continue to maintain a current account surplus, while the capital and non-reserve financial accounts will continue to be in deficit.
The report said the goods trade surplus will remain at a “certain level” this year, while the growth of the services trade deficit is likely to stabilize.
At the same time, the deficit under the capital and non-reserve financial accounts will narrow as the improving domestic economy will attract more capital inflows and domestic enterprises are expected to make more rational and stable overseas investments, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said.
Regulators expect cross-border capital flows to gradually balance out.
The report said that as the reform of the RMB exchange rate formation mechanism progresses steadily, a more flexible RMB will be conducive to promoting two-way cross-border capital flows.
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