BEIJING, Dec. 16 -- China's commercial banks saw a forex settlement surplus of 3.5 billion U.S. dollars in November, official data showed Monday.

Forex purchases by banks reached 204.4 billion U.S. dollars, while sales stood at 200.9 billion U.S. dollars, data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed.

In November, China's international economic activities remained vibrant, with the foreign exchange market operating smoothly and in an orderly fashion. Overall, cross-border capital flows through the primary channels remained stable, said Li Bin, deputy head of the administration.

China's foreign exchange market is set to continue its robust performance in the future, partly because the existing positive factors and favorable conditions in economic operations are expected to strengthen the market's stability, according to Li.