BEIJING — China's foreign exchange reserves expanded to $3.1646 trillion at the end of August from $3.1544 trillion at the end of July, central bank data showed on Sept 7.

This expansion marked the fifth straight month of growth for forex reserves, which rose 0.3 percent from a month earlier to its highest level since October 2016.

Wang Chunying, spokesperson of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, attributed the rise to multiple factors including changes in exchange rates and asset prices.

China's yuan strengthened last month, with the China Foreign Exchange Trade System yuan exchange rate composite index, which measures the yuan's strength relative to a basket of currencies, rising 1.5 percent from the previous month to 92.79 at the end of August.

As the country's economy maintains a steady recovery, reform and opening-up have continued apace, and efforts have been stepped up to create a new development pattern that takes the domestic market as the mainstay while letting internal and external markets boost each other, said Wang, vowing to ensure the overall stability of forex reserves.

According to data from the People's Bank of China, the country's gold reserves remained unchanged in August at 62.64 million ounces, equivalent to $122.62 billion.