China's official reserves and its banks' foreign-currency assets abroad. 3 series: Official foreign currency reserves, Banks' foreign-currency claims abroad, Banks' net foreign-currency claims (claims less liabilities). Latest, 2026 Q2: Official foreign currency reserves 3416.3; Banks' foreign-currency claims abroad —; Banks' net foreign-currency claims (claims less liabilities) —.

Brad Setser's point: China's official reserves have sat just above $3 trillion for a decade, while its state banks have kept adding foreign assets the central bank's books do not show. This chart puts the two side by side. The bank lines cover every bank located in China, in all foreign currencies, as China reports them to the BIS since the end of 2015; Setser counts only the large state commercial banks' dollars, from SAFE, and put their net dollar position above $700 billion at the end of 2025. Neither measure includes the policy banks or the China Investment Corporation.

See also: Laurence Wilse-Samson, "Global Finance: A Money View", chapter 21, Emerging Market Finance; Brad Setser, "China's fake de-dollarization" (CFR, 2026)

Classroom exerciseCompute the banks' net foreign-currency claims in the last quarter of 2015 and in the latest quarter, and the change in official reserves over the same years. Which grew more? Setser argues that China's state banks now hold reserves the central bank no longer shows. What would you need to know about who owns these banks, and who decides what they buy, before counting their foreign assets as reserves? Teach page