1st LD-Writethru: China's forex reserves "abundant": regulator

China's foreign exchange reserves are "relatively abundant" despite a record monthly drop, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) said Saturday.

China's foreign exchange reserves fell by 107.9 billion U.S. dollars in December to 3.33 trillion at the yearend, the lowest level in more than three years, according to central bank data.

Nevertheless, China still holds the world's largest foreign exchange reserves, despite the sharpest monthly fall on record partly due to an interest rate hike last month by the U.S. Federal Reserve and possible future rises.

Under persistent depreciation pressure, the Chinese yuan dipped to a five-year low against the U.S. dollar this week.

The SAFE shrugged off all the concerns in an online statement, saying that fundamentals of the Chinese economy are sound and "generally speaking, China's financial system is stable and healthy."

The administration said it will further facilitate cross-border trade and investment, and continue to promote the yuan's convertibility under the capital account in an orderly manner.

The SAFE will strengthen the monitoring of China's balance of payments, and improve the regulation of foreign debt and cross-border capital flows.

It will also try to better manage the country's huge foreign exchange reserves and diversify ways of using them. Endi