China forex reserves hit $3 trillion 

China's foreign exchange reserves rose 24.4 percent year-on-year to $3.044 trillion by the end of March, said the People's Bank of China on Thursday, adding to what is already the world's largest stockpile of foreign exchange reserves.

The central bank had previously reported its reserves stood at $2.847 trillion at the end of 2010.

Currency holdings rose by about $197.4 billion in the first quarter of this year, despite the $1.02 billion trade deficit posted by China for the quarter. This growth implies a large influx of "hot money," short-term speculative funds in search of quick profits.

Exchange-rate swings also affect the value of the reserves, said Vice Minister of Finance Li Yong in an article published Tuesday. U.S. dollar assets account for 70 percent of China's foreign exchange reserves, and euro assets for 20 percent. Depreciation of both the U.S. dollar and the euro is causing capital losses of China's forex reserves.

Chinese gold reserves stood at 33.89 million ounces at the end of March.

China overtook Japan to become the world's biggest holder of foreign exchange reserves in 2006 after its stockpile grew to $1.066 trillion. The reserves jumped to $2.13 trillion in 2009.

央行昨天公布的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，2011年3月末，國家外匯儲(chǔ)備余額為30447億美元，同比增長24.4%，我國外匯儲(chǔ)備首次突破3萬億美元大關(guān)，繼續(xù)穩(wěn)坐全球外匯儲(chǔ)備第一大國位置。

對比2010年末外匯儲(chǔ)備28473億美元，今年一季度我國外匯儲(chǔ)備單季增加高達(dá)1974億美元。一季度我國出現(xiàn)10.2億美元的貿(mào)易逆差, 專家認(rèn)為，一季度外匯儲(chǔ)備激增表明熱錢流入較多。

目前我國外匯儲(chǔ)備以美元和歐元資產(chǎn)為主，其中有約70%為美元資產(chǎn)。財(cái)政部副部長李勇近日撰文指出，歐元和美元貶值已使我國外匯儲(chǔ)備出現(xiàn)賬面虧損。

此外，一季度末，我國外匯儲(chǔ)備中的黃金儲(chǔ)備數(shù)量未發(fā)生變化，依然持有3389萬盎司的黃金儲(chǔ)備。

2006年2月底，我國首次超過日本，位居全球第一。同年10月，我國外匯儲(chǔ)備首次突破1萬億美元大關(guān)。2009年6月，外匯儲(chǔ)備突破2萬億美元，此后不到一年時(shí)間，外匯儲(chǔ)備增長到3萬億美元。