The State Administration of Foreign Exchange said Thursday that China continued to see a forex settlement deficit in the first half of this year, but the gap has been gradually shrinking.

SAFE spokesperson Wang Chunying told reporters that Chinese banks sold US$900 billion while buying US$727 billion in the first six months of the year. Wang said that put the settlement deficit at US$174 billion.

China's forex settlement deficit totalled US$125 billion in the first quarter of this year and declined to 49 billion in the second. Wang said that pressure on cross-border capital outflows has been steadily easing.