According to the report from the People's Bank of China (PBoC), China's foreign exchange reserves (the world's largest) rose in July, and reached the highest level since December 2015, helped by the weakening of the US currency.
The PBoC said foreign exchange reserves increased to $3.256 trillion from $3.222 trillion in June. Economists had expected a rise to $3.25 trillion. The combined effect of factors such as exchange rate conversion and asset price changes contributed to the rise.
The US dollar index fell by 1.67% in July, while the yuan rose by 0.65% against the US currency.
The data also showed that China held 72.80 million fine troy ounces of gold (unchanged from June). Meanwhile, the value of gold reserves increased by $6.94 billion to $176.64 billion.