BEIJING, Nov. 15 -- China's commercial banks saw a forex settlement surplus of about 18.3 billion U.S. dollars in October, official data showed Friday.

Forex purchases by banks reached 216.4 billion U.S. dollars, while sales stood at about 198.2 billion U.S. dollars, data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) showed.

China's forex market has been maintaining stable operation, with market expectations and transactions remaining stable and orderly, and domestic foreign exchange supply and demand generally balanced, a SAFE official said.

In October, China's foreign trade continued its upward trajectory, with the net inflow of funds under the goods trade category increasing 9.7 percent month on month, reaching a historical high for three consecutive months, said the official.

The official said that China's foreign exchange market has the basis and conditions to maintain stable operation in the future.