Q: According to the latest data on foreign exchange reserves released by the People's Bank of China, China's foreign exchange reserves as at the end of March increased by USD 4 billion month on month. Could you tell us why such a change occurred to foreign exchange reserves?

A: As of March 31, 2017, China posted USD 3.0091 trillion in foreign exchange reserves, up by a slight USD 4 billion or 0.1% month on month and rising for the second consecutive month.

In March, the global financial market stayed stable, while China's cross-border capital flows continued to present a healthy development landscape of combination of inflows and outflows, and two-way fluctuations towards an equilibrium. The exchange rates of non-USD currencies against the USD appreciated slightly in the month, and asset prices changed a little, while the currencies and assets invested with foreign exchange reserves went through alternate rises and falls and were fragmented, and foreign exchange reserves remained stable.

In the first quarter of 2017, China's foreign exchange reserves dropped by USD 1.4 billion, much lower than those of the previous two quarters, which shows that China's economic performance is being stabilized, the pressure from cross-border capital outflows is somewhat relieved, and the changes to foreign exchange reserves are also being stabilized.

China's economic fundamentals are sound for the moment, featuring great potential and strong resilience. Going forward, China's economy will continue to grow stably and rapidly, the surplus under the current account will remain within a reasonable range, cross-border capital flows will evolve towards an equilibrium, the reform of the market-oriented RMB exchange rate formation mechanism will be steadily pressed ahead with, and foreign exchange reserves may be stabilized further.