Biggest fall in 20 years hits forex reserves

China's foreign exchange reserves shrank by $180 billion in the third quarter - the largest fall in two decades - following the central bank's move to hold the yuan's value through selling US dollars.

However, the reserves fell by $43 billion in September after an unprecedented drop of $94 billion in August, suggesting that depreciation pressure on the yuan is easing.

The figures, released by the People's Bank of China on Wednesday, also showed that by the end of last month the foreign exchange reserves stood at $3.51 trillion - still the world's largest.