China FX reserves rise to highest level since 2015 in August

BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s foreign exchange reserves rose to the highest level in more than 8-1/2 years in August, official data showed on Saturday, thanks largely to a broadly weaker U.S. dollar.

The country’s foreign exchange reserves – the world’slargest – grew by $31.8 billion to $3.288 trillion lastmonth, booking the second straight monthly expansion and hitting the highest since December 2015.

But it slightly missed a $3.289 trillion forecast in a Reuters poll of analysts.

The yuan gained 1.9% against the dollar inAugust, while the dollar last month weakened 2.2% against a basket of other major currencies.

(Reporting by Qiaoyi Li, Winni Zhou and Ryan Woo’ Editing by Sam Holmes)