BEIJING — China's commercial banks reported a net forex settlement surplus of 99.1 billion yuan ($14.2 billion) in February, the country's forex regulator said on March 20.

Forex purchases by banks stood at 1.02 trillion yuan, while sales reached 920.8 billion yuan, data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) showed.

Despite the impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak, China's forex market maintained a generally stable operation last month with the cross-border capital flows keeping steady, said SAFE spokesperson Wang Chunying.

Wang said China's forex market was witnessing a more "rational, orderly and mature" development trend.

The fundamentals of the Chinese economy, maintaining steady growth toward long-term sound development, remain unchanged, Wang said, noting that yuan-based assets are still appealing worldwide, offering a solid foundation for a stable forex market.