State Administration of Foreign Exchange: In April, banks' foreign exchange settlement amounted to 1.7673 trillion yuan, and the overall operation of the foreign exchange market was stable.

On May 18th, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange released the data for bank foreign exchange transactions and bank foreign exchange payments and receipts for April 2026. The statistical data shows that in April 2026, banks purchased foreign exchange totaling 1.7673 trillion RMB and sold foreign exchange totaling 1.492 trillion RMB. From January to April 2026, banks accumulated purchases of 7.0948 trillion RMB and sales of 5.8526 trillion RMB. In terms of US dollars, in April 2026, banks purchased 257.3 billion USD and sold 217.2 billion USD. From January to April 2026, banks accumulated purchases of 1.0237 trillion USD and sales of 844.9 billion USD. In April 2026, banks facilitated foreign receipts for clients totaling 571.43 trillion RMB and made foreign payments totaling 528.89 trillion RMB. From January to April 2026, banks accumulated foreign receipts for clients of 2.10427 trillion RMB and made foreign payments totaling 2.00166 trillion RMB. In terms of US dollars, in April 2026, banks facilitated foreign receipts for clients totaling 83.2 billion USD and made foreign payments totaling 77 billion USD. From January to April 2026, banks accumulated foreign receipts for clients of 30.375 billion USD and made foreign payments totaling 28.9 billion USD. Deputy Director of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange and spokesperson Li Bin answered questions from reporters on the foreign exchange market situation in April 2026. Recently, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange released the data for bank foreign exchange transactions and bank foreign exchange payments and receipts for April 2026. Deputy Director of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange and spokesperson Li Bin answered questions on the foreign exchange market situation in April 2026. Question: The external environment has been changing rapidly recently. How is the operation of the foreign exchange market in China? In recent times, the geopolitical situation has caused fluctuations in the international financial market, but the overall operation of China's foreign exchange market has remained stable. Due to external disturbances, there was a certain net outflow of cross-border capital in March, which returned to a net inflow in April. Looking at the overall situation in March and April, the average net inflow of cross-border capital was 14.9 billion USD per month, and banks had an average net purchase of 28 billion USD per month, lower than the monthly surplus scale at the end of last year and the beginning of this year. Foreign transactions remain active. In April, the total cross-border receipts and payments of non-bank entities, including enterprises and individuals, reached 1.6 trillion USD, a 15% increase compared to the same period last year. The trading volume in the foreign exchange market was 3.7 trillion USD, remaining at a relatively high level. The ability of enterprises to manage exchange rate risks has gradually strengthened, and foreign exchange transactions have become more rational. In the first four months of this year, the trading volume of enterprise foreign exchange derivatives increased by 22% year-on-year, and the foreign exchange hedging rate reached 33.6%, an increase of 3.7 percentage points from 2025. The awareness of enterprise exchange rate risk management has increased, which helps promote more rational foreign exchange transactions. In April, the willingness of enterprises to purchase foreign exchange remained stable with a slight decrease, and the foreign exchange income purchase rate showed a slight decline, indicating that market expectations remain relatively stable. This article is taken from the official website of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, edited by GMTEight: Jiang Yuanhua.