File photo shows a worker counts the U.S. dollars at a bank in Tancheng County of Linyi City, east China's Shandong Province. (Xinhua/Zhang Chunlei)

Chinese banks reported a net forex settlement deficit of 31 billion yuan (about 4.36 billion U.S. dollars) in December, official data showed on Monday.

In yuan terms, forex purchases by banks exceeded 1.43 trillion yuan, and sales were approximately 1.47 trillion yuan, according to data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE).

In 2023, forex purchases by banks came in at 15.53 trillion yuan, and sales totaled approximately 16.06 trillion yuan.

"China's foreign exchange market operated steadily and showed strong resilience last year," SAFE deputy head Wang Chunying said, adding that the RMB exchange rate remained basically stable at a reasonable and balanced level with two-way fluctuation.

The willingness of foreign capital to invest in the Chinese market and allocate RMB assets has steadily increased, Wang said. In December 2023, the net increase of RMB assets held by foreign investors reached 24.5 billion U.S. dollars. The net inflow of foreign direct investment capital exceeded 10 billion U.S. dollars last month.

The administration's earlier data showed that China's forex reserves stood at 3.238 trillion U.S. dollars at the end of 2023.