1st Ld-Writethru: China's forex reserves continue to fall in November

China's foreign exchange reserves fell for the fifth straight month in November, the country's forex regulator said Wednesday.

Foreign exchange reserves stood at 3.05 trillion U.S. dollars last month, down 69.1 billion dollars or 2.2 percent from October, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said, citing figures from the central bank.

The November figure is the largest monthly drop since January this year, and it brings China's foreign exchange reserves to the lowest level since March 2011.

In an online statement, the forex regulator said the decline in November was partly because the central bank has used the reserves to maintain a balance between the supply and demand of foreign currencies in the past month.

A firmer U.S. dollar against other currencies after the U.S. presidential election has also dragged down China's foreign exchange reserves, the statement said.

Since the reserves are calculated in U.S. dollars, the weakening of other currencies held by China against the dollar would result in a decline in China's reserves.

Meanwhile, a retreat in bond prices has contributed to the shrinking of reserves, it added.

Accelerated economic growth in the United States, a potentially imminent interest rate hike and expectations of Donald Trump's expansionary fiscal policies have already caused the Dollar Index to advance 6 percent in the last two months.

The Chinese yuan has weakened around 3 percent against the dollar during the period.

China kept its gold reserves unchanged from October levels at 59.24 million ounces in November, equivalent to 69.79 billion dollars, according to central bank data. Endi