China's foreign exchange reserves, the largest in the world, dropped by USD 87.2 billion to USD 3.44 trillion in November amid a slowdown of besides surge in its outbound direct investment (ODI).
The People's Bank of China today said the reserves in the world's second largest economy fell by USD 87.2 billion from October to their lowest level in nearly three years as the declining trend continued.
Gold reserves decreased from USD 63.3 billion dollars at the end of October to 59.5 billion dollars at the end of November.
"The fall in November was larger than expected, which indicates that China's use of forex reserves had exceeded expectations," Liu Ruidong, analyst from Merrill Lynch, said on Sina Weibo.
The fall in November came after a USD 11.4 billion month- on-month rise registered in October.
Before that, reserves declined for five consecutive months from May to September.
Fuelled by exports, forex reserves grew for more than a decade before beginning their decline in the third quarter of 2014.
In the third quarter of 2015, forex reserves fell by USD 180 billion, much more than the USD 40 billion decrease in the second quarter, a fifth consecutive quarterly drop.
The steady drop in China's forex reserves followed fall in exports leading to economic slowdown.
Chinese economy slipped below seven per cent to about 6.9 per cent in the third quarter.
Also Chinese ODI inched close to about USD 100 billion so far this year as state and private firms stepped up investments abroad.
