China's current account surpluses continue

BEIJING -- China's current account surplus in the fourth quarter of 2013 reached 305.4 billion yuan ($50 billion), the fifth straight quarter of surplus.

The goods trade surplus reached 708.8 billion yuan while deficits were recorded in service trade and current transfers of 148.1 billion yuan and 21.8 billion yuan, respectively, according to data released by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

A surplus of capital and financial accounts totalled roughly 496.3 billion yuan in the fourth quarter. Net inflows of direct investment amounted to 362.1 billion yuan.

Due to the surpluses, China's international reserve assets increased by 801.7 billion yuan. Foreign exchange reserve assets (excluding the influence of exchange rates and prices) rose by 803 billion yuan while special drawing rights and the reserve position in the International Monetary Fund saw a drop of 1.3 billion yuan.

For the whole year, the current account surplus was 1.17 trillion yuan while that under the capital and financial account stood at 1.51 trillion yuan, resulting in an increase of 2.67 trillion yuan in international reserve assets.