BEIJING, June 15 -- China's banks saw a net forex settlement surplus of 3.3 billion U.S. dollars in May, the country's forex regulator said on Thursday.

Forex purchases by banks totaled 199.3 billion dollars last month, and sales reached 196 billion dollars, data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed.

The supply and demand of China's foreign exchange market remains generally balanced, said Wang Chunying, deputy director and spokesperson of the administration.

She said the surplus growth in the current account in May continued to play a basic role in stabilizing cross-border capital flows.

In terms of capital, foreign direct investment in China maintained a net inflow, overseas investment in the domestic bond market further improved, and outbound direct investment remained stable, she added.

With macro policies well in place, China's economy will continue to recover and improve, further strengthening the support for China's foreign exchange market, Wang said.

Meanwhile, China's forex market demonstrated stronger resilience and its cross-border capital flows are expected to keep stable and orderly, she added.

During the first five months of 2023, forex purchases by banks came in at 932.2 billion dollars, and sales totaled 938.7 billion dollars.