China forex reserves fall on asset value

BEIJING, Jan 6 - The recent fall in the value of China's foreign exchange reserves was on account of a drop in the value of some of the assets held by the central bank, an adviser to the central bank said on Tuesday.

Fan Gang, who holds the academic seat on the People's Bank of China's monetary policy committee, did not give further details. He was speaking to reporters.

Cai Qiusheng, an official with the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), said in December that the reserves had fallen from their level above $1.9 trillion at the end of September, the last date for which official figures are available.

A source later told Reuters that the reserves fell in October to less than $1.89 trillion, their first monthly fall since December 2003.

(Reuters)