BEIJING, July 17 (Xinhua) -- China's foreign exchange market remained stable in the first half of 2026 despite a complex and volatile external environment, with cross-border transactions reaching record levels and market expectations staying generally steady, data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) showed Friday.
During the January-June period, banks' foreign exchange receipts and payments on behalf of clients totaled 9.2 trillion U.S. dollars, up 21 percent year on year, marking a record high for the same period, according to SAFE.
The share of the yuan in cross-border receipts and payments rose to 52.9 percent, up 1.3 percentage points from the full year of 2025.
Bank foreign exchange settlement and sales totaled 2.9 trillion U.S. dollars in the first half, an increase of 24 percent year on year, also hitting a record high for the period.
Trading activity in China's foreign exchange market continued to expand. Domestic yuan foreign exchange market transactions totaled 22.1 trillion U.S. dollars in the first half, up 5 percent year on year. Spot transactions and derivatives transactions accounted for 38 percent and 62 percent of total market turnover, respectively.
Cross-border capital flows showed a net inflow during the period, the data showed. Non-bank sectors, including companies and individuals, recorded a net cross-border capital inflow of 247.2 billion U.S. dollars in the first half.
SAFE said China's foreign exchange market has demonstrated strong resilience and vitality amid global uncertainties. It said it will continue to deepen reforms and opening-up in the foreign exchange sector, improve risk prevention mechanisms, and build a foreign exchange management system that is more convenient, more open, safer and smarter to support high-quality economic development. ■
