1st LD-Writethru: China's forex reserves drop in April

BEIJING, May 7 (Xinhua) -- China's foreign exchange reserves stood at 3.1249 trillion U.S. dollars at the end of April, down from a month earlier, according to central bank data released Monday.

This was lower than 3.1428 trillion dollars registered at the end of March, according to the People's Bank of China (PBOC).

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange attributed the drop to the weakening of non-dollar denominated currencies against the greenback and lower asset prices. The cross-border capital flows and transactions had remained stable, it said.

The economy has delivered a solid start to the year, with economic transformation continuing apace while the quality and efficiency of growth continuing to improve, SAFE said on its website.

Looking ahead, the forex regulator said the country had the conditions and capability to maintain sound and stable growth momentum, and its foreign exchange reserves would remain generally stable.

According to the PBOC, the country's gold reserves remained unchanged in April at 59.24 million ounces, equivalent to 77.79 billion U.S. dollars. Enditem