The latest external storage data has been released. On October 7th, according to statistics from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, as of the end of September 2025, China's foreign exchange reserves amounted to 3338.7 billion US dollars, an increase of 16.5 billion US dollars or 0.5% from the end of August. The Beijing Business Daily reporter noticed that this is the second consecutive month that China's foreign exchange reserves have reached the $3.3 trillion mark, the highest since December 2015. Regarding the changes in the scale of foreign exchange reserves for the current month, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange pointed out that in September 2025, due to factors such as macroeconomic data, monetary policies, and expectations of major economies, the US dollar index fluctuated slightly, and global financial asset prices rose overall. The combined effect of exchange rate conversion and asset price changes led to an increase in the scale of foreign exchange reserves for the month. The overall stability and steady progress of China's economy have achieved new results in high-quality development, which is conducive to maintaining basic stability in the scale of foreign exchange reserves. Wen Bin, Chief Economist of China Minsheng Bank, pointed out that in September, due to weak employment data, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 25 basis points as scheduled, and global asset prices rose overall, while the US dollar fluctuated at a low level. Due to the combined impact of asset price changes and exchange rate fluctuations, the external reserve to environmental ratio increased by $16.5 billion to $3338.7 billion at the end of September. In terms of exchange rate, in September, the US dollar index closed flat at 97.8 at the beginning of the month. The market had already fully priced the Fed's interest rate cut in the early stage, and the downward pressure on the US dollar was basically released. The relative weakness of non US currencies also supported the US dollar, with the Japanese yen and British pound falling 1.1% and 0.5% respectively against the US dollar. In terms of asset prices, Wen Bin stated that the hedged global bond index denominated in US dollars rose by 0.7%, and US stocks continued to rise strongly, with the S&P 500 index rising by 3.5% in September. The Federal Reserve's interest rate cuts have released liquidity to the world, and major economies' stock markets have maintained high prosperity, with the Nikkei index rising 5.4% and the European Stoxx index rising 1.2%. The dual strength of stocks and bonds has formed support for external reserves. According to the latest official reserve asset data released on the official website of the People's Bank of China, as of the end of September, China's official gold reserves were 74.06 million ounces (approximately 2303.523 tons), an increase of 40000 ounces (approximately 1.24 tons) from the end of last month. At present, the People's Bank of China has increased its holdings of gold for 11 consecutive months. Pang Ming, a specially appointed senior researcher at the National Finance and Development Laboratory, pointed out that in the short term, the cumulative increase in gold prices in September exceeded 10%, marking the largest monthly increase in 14 years. The People's Bank of China has increased its holdings of gold for 11 consecutive months, but the scale of the increase is slightly lower than the recent month on month increase of 60000 to 70000 ounces, indicating that the People's Bank of China continues to achieve a dynamic balance between optimizing its reserve structure, expanding its gold reserves, and controlling the cost of increasing holdings, in order to better manage portfolio liquidity, avoid geopolitical uncertainty and market risks, and hedge the volatility of other types of financial assets. In the medium term, with the global trade situation still uncertain, geopolitical uncertainty continuing, and market confidence in the US dollar system and US dollar assets weakening, Pang Ming expects that central banks and investors around the world will continue to increase their holdings of gold investment and provide support for gold prices with their investment and risk avoidance needs. In the long run, Pang Ming believes that gold still has irreplaceable advantages in terms of risk aversion, inflation resistance, and long-term value preservation and appreciation, possessing multiple attributes of finance and commodities. Therefore, the tactical operation of China's central bank to promote international reserve diversification, add and dynamically adjust gold reserves in portfolio allocation will not change, and the strategic direction of continuously increasing gold holdings will not change. Looking ahead, Wen Bin stated that the US Trump administration's "equal tariffs" policy has basically been implemented, with most economies having tax rates lower than the initial level set in April. The US China trade negotiations have also steadily progressed, and the uncertainty of the international trade environment has converged. Coupled with the diversification of China's trading partners and the optimization of its export commodity structure, exports continue to play a fundamental role in stabilizing cross-border capital flows. China is steadily expanding the opening up of its financial market, broadening cross-border investment and financing channels, highlighting the diversified asset allocation function of the RMB, and the attractiveness of the domestic securities market to foreign investment is expected to continue to increase. The overall stability and steady progress of China's economy have achieved new results in high-quality development, which is conducive to maintaining basic stability in the scale of foreign exchange reserves. (New Society)