Daily transaction volume mounted up

There were totally 20 sessions of trade in January 2002, which ended up with US$ 8.32 billion accumulatively and an average daily volume of US$ 416 million. Compared with last month and the same period last year respectively, daily transaction volume increased by 19 per cent and 49 per cent. Daily transaction volume also increased for USD and HKD, compared with last month as well as the same period last year while that of JPY decreased slightly.

USD fluctuated in a narrow range, HKD rose in a seesawing game, and JPY declined moderately

USD dropped in the first ten days of January, then rose and fluctuated in the following ten days, and dropped sharply in the last ten days. But in general, the range was not wide. The weighted average exchange rate of RMB/USD at the beginning of January was 8.2768; the highest was 8.2768, and the lowest was 8.2765, ranging 3 bips; while weighted average price at the end of the month was 8.2765, only 1 bip lower than 8.2766 at the end of last December.

HKD rose gradually this month. The weighted average price of HKD at the beginning of January was 1.0605. It rose from the lowest of 1.0605 on January 18, then tossed about in a wide range, and closed at 1.0609 at the end of the month, which was 4 bips higher than the 1.0605 at the end of December.

JPY failed to halt its slide in January, and recovered moderately at the end of January. The weighted average price at the beginning of the month was 6.3095, remaining high in the first ten days. It went up a little, dropped again in the second ten days, and moved away from a V-shaped bottom in the last ten days and closed at 6.2408, 604 bips lower than the 6.3012 at the end of December.

The surplus of supply over demand increased

Compared with December, daily supply of forex in the market increased while daily demand shrank in January. The monthly surplus increased by US$ 2.4 billion compared with last December, and the daily surplus increased by 85.41 per cent and 97.97 per cent, compared with December and January 2001.

Brief analysis

The main causes for the growth of forex surplus were that the domestic economy developed steadily as shown by the statistics, and the domestic market attracted foreign capital while much of the world's economy was in recession. Seasonal factors also motivated the growth of the market.

The macro economic situation kept steady

In December 2001, the industrial production increased 8.7 per cent compared with the same period last year. In 2001, the accumulative industrial increased 2.695 trillion yuan, which was 9.9 per cent higher than 2000. As the statistics showed, GDP in 2001 surpassed 9 trillion yuan for the first time.

Foreign trade kept in surplus

According to the preliminary Customs statistics, in December 2001, total export increased 11.5 per cent and import increased 4.6 per cent; compared with the same period in 2000, the surplus was US$ 2.11 billion, 2.7 times more than the same period in 2000.

Foreign investment flourished

According to the statistics of MOFTEC, in 2001, the contracted foreign investment reached US$ 69.19 billion, 10.43 per cent higher than the same period in 2000; and the utilized foreign investment amounted to a record high of US$ 46.85 billion, which was 14.9 per cent higher than 2000.

(by Wu Jingjing)