China's foreign
exchange reserves totalled US$340.6bn at the end of May, said the gov-ernor of the
People's Bank of China, Zhou Xiaoehuan. They had risen from US$316bn at the end of
March, due to the strong inflow of foreign investment and the continuing trade
surplus.,
The central bank keeps the yuan within a narrow band of 8.276 to 8.28, a
range which has been criticised as artificially weak by Japan, Europe and the US. However,
the Chinese authorities have resisted pressure to revalue the yuan, Instead, the governor
said that the government intended to move towards full currency convertibility and other
reforms in line with trade liberalisation.
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