China's forex settlement deficit narrows in January

China continued to see a deficit in its foreign exchange settlement in January with narrowed volume, official data showed on Monday.

Chinese lenders bought 162 billion U.S. dollars' worth of foreign currency and sold 170.2 billion U.S. dollars, resulting in a net sell of 8.2 billion U.S. dollars, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) said in a statement.

The forex settlement deficit stood at 9.3 billion U.S. dollars in December and China continued to see a surplus in its foreign exchange settlement in 2014, but the volume narrowed significantly, indicating easing capital inflows.