China's forex reserves fall for first time in five years

China's foreign exchange reserves, the world's largest, have fallen for the first time in five years, according to the comments of a senior forex official.

"The forex reserves have fallen for the first time since December 2003," said Cai Qiusheng, an official at the capital account management department under the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

China's foreign exchange reserves topped $1.9 trillion (Dh6.97trn) at the end of September, according to central bank figures.

Cai did not give a new figure for China's current forex reserves, according to the transcript of his weekend speech, which was carried by the Sina.com website.

Officials at the State Administration of Foreign Exchange were not immediately available for comment.

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