The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) said, China's commercial banks purchased a net $12.1 billion of foreign exchange in January, compared with a net sale of $7.1 billion in December.

Expectations of China's forex market improved last month, thanks to Beijing's measures to arrest an economic slowdown, said Wang Chunying, a SAFE spokeswoman, added that retail investors' FX purchases continued to decline, falling 11% in January from the previous year.