China FX reserves fall $512.66bn in 2015, biggest drop on record

China's foreign exchange reserves, the world's largest, fell USD 107.9 billion in December to USD 3.33 trillion, the biggest monthly drop on record, central bank data showed on Thursday.

The December figure missed market expectations of USD 3.40 trillion, according to a Reuters poll.

China's foreign exchange reserves fell USD 512.66 billion in 2015, the biggest annual drop on record.

The value of its gold reserves stood at USD 60.19 billion at the end of December, up from USD 59.52 billion at the end of November, the People's Bank of China said on its website.

Gold reserves stood at 56.66 million fine troy ounces at the end of December, up from 56.05 million at end-November.

China's International Monetary Fund (IMF) reserve position was at USD 4.55 billion, down from USD 4.60 billion the previous month. It held USD 10.28 billion of IMF Special Drawing Rights at the end of last month, compared with USD 10.18 billion at the end of November.

The central bank in July shifted to reporting its foreign exchange reserves on a monthly basis after adopting the IMF's Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS). The bank had previously released the data on a quarterly basis.