1st LD: China's forex reserves rise for 11th straight month

BEIJING, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- China's foreign exchange reserves rose for the 11th month in a row to 3.14 trillion U.S. dollars at the end of December, data from the central bank showed Sunday.

It was slightly higher than the market forecast of 3.13 trillion dollars and increased 20.7 billion dollars from a month earlier, according to the People's Bank of China.

In January, the forex reserves fell below 3 trillion dollars, but as the economy is on firmer footing and the yuan continues to stabilize, the stockpile has increased steadily since February.

The country has kept its gold reserves unchanged from the year-start level of 59.24 million ounces in December, equivalent to 76.47 billion dollars, according to central bank data. Enditem