CHINA FOREIGN currency deposits

FOREIGN currency deposits in individual accounts with the Bank of China have risen to US$13.62 billion by the end of November, according to the Economic Information Daily .

The bank first started accepting foreign currency deposits in 1984 and by April 1994 these had exceeded $10 billion.

The Bank of China, one of the four state-owned commercial banks, now held more than 60 per cent of the country's individual foreign currency deposits, the newspaper said.

In addition to foreign currency sent by overseas Chinese, more was being sent home by Chinese nationals working abroad. The increasing numbers of visitors to the country had added to the surge in foreign currency, the paper said.