According to the statistics released by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), the foreign exchange settlements by banks on behalf of clients from April to June of 2010 amounted to USD107.4 billion, USD96.2 billion, and USD108.7 billion respectively, totaling USD312.3 billion, whereas foreign exchange sales by banks on behalf of clients from April to June of 2010 amounted to USD71 billion, USD80.1 billion, and USD94.7 billion respectively, totaling USD245.8 billion. The surplus of the settlement and sales of foreign exchange by banks on behalf of clients from April to June of 2010 was USD36.4 billion, USD16.1 billion, and USD14 billion respectively, totaling USD66.5 billion.

Foreign-related receipts of domestic banks on behalf of clients from April to June of 2010 amounted to USD145.7 billion, USD137.2 billion, and USD161.5 billion respectively, totaling USD444.4 billion. During the same period, foreign-related payments by domestic banks on behalf of clients amounted to USD123.2 billion, USD120.4 billion, and USD140.5 billion respectively, totaling USD384.1 billion. The favorable balance of foreign-related receipts and payments for each month of the second quarter amounted to USD22.5 billion, USD16.8 billion, and USD21 billion respectively, totaling USD60.3 billion.

Definition of terms and interpretations

Balance of payments refers to all economic transactions occurring between residents and non-residents in China, including all financial transactions and barter transactions resulting in any changes to the assets and liabilities thereof.

Foreign exchange settlement and sales by banks refer to settlement and sales conducted by designated foreign exchange banks for their clients or for themselves, excluding data on inter-bank foreign exchange market transactions. Foreign exchange settlement and sales by banks on behalf of clients refer to, including foreign exchange settlement and sales by banks, those conducted by designated foreign exchange banks for their clients. The time of conversion between RMB and the foreign currency is regarded as the time-point for the statistics on the foreign exchange settlement and sales by banks, among which foreign exchange settlement refers to sales of foreign exchange by its owners to designated foreign exchange banks, whereas foreign exchange sales refer to sales of foreign exchange by designated foreign exchange banks to users thereof. The differences between foreign exchange settlement and sales are regarded as an offset balance. Such differences, which will be offset by banks through transactions on the inter-bank foreign exchange market, function as a major force resulting in changes to the countrys foreign exchange reserves.  But it is not equivalent to the net change in foreign exchange reserves during the same period.

The principle for transactions between residents and non-residents does not apply to the preparation of statistics on foreign exchange settlement and sales by banks on behalf of clients, and such statistics only cover transactions of RMB and foreign currencies between the banks and their clients, namely, exchange transactions between RMB and foreign currencies, which fall outside the category of the balance- of-payments statistics.

Foreign-related receipts and payments of banks on behalf of clients refer to receipts and payments between domestic non-bank resident institutions and individuals (hereinafter collectively referred to as non-bank sector) and non-resident institutions or individuals through domestic banks, excluding receipts and payments in cash and the foreign-related receipts and payments of the banks themselves. Foreign-related receipts and payments of banks on behalf of clients include: cross-border receipts and payments between the non-bank sector and non-residents through domestic banks (including foreign currencies and RMB), as well as domestic receipts and payments (currently only including foreign currencies) between the non-bank sector and non-residents through domestic banks.  The time- point for the statistics is when the clients apply to the domestic banks for foreign-related receipts  and payments. Of the foreign-related receipts and payments of banks on behalf of clients, said receipts refer to the amount collected by the non-bank sector from non-residents through domestic banks, whereas said payments refer to the amount that the non-bank sector pays to non-residents through domestic banks.