BEIJING — Chinese banks saw a net foreign exchange purchase last month, data from the country's forex regulator showed on April 22.

Chinese lenders bought $258 billion worth of foreign currencies and sold $231.3 billion's worth in March. It resulted in a net purchase of $26.8 billion, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) said at a press conference.

In the first quarter of the year, the banks recorded a net forex purchase of $58.7 billion, the data showed.

Despite the increasing volatility in the international financial market, China's foreign exchange market remained stable and the yuan's exchange rate against the US dollar maintained two-way fluctuations within a balanced range, said Wang Chunying, deputy head of the SAFE.

Wang noted that the cross-border capital flows were generally stable and relatively balanced during the first three months of the year.

The country continued to see net inflows of cross-border capital related to the real economy during the period, with the net inflows from goods trade at an elevated level of $129.7 billion, Wang said.

Earlier data showed China's foreign exchange reserves fell to $3.188 trillion at the end of March, down $25.8 billion, or 0.8 percent, from the end of February.