China Balance of Payments (BOP)

About this data

China's quarterly balance of payments, starting from the first quarter of 1998, compiled according to the International Monetary Fund's BPM6 standard. This is a comprehensive record of all transactions between China and the rest of the world, extending well beyond the trade balance by incorporating services, investment income, transfers, and all capital flows. China's massive current account surplus—and its reinvestment abroad in the form of foreign exchange reserves and asset purchases—lies at the heart of much of the debate over global imbalances and the renminbi exchange rate. The table breaks down 12 service categories, with tourism flows explaining why China's services balance runs a persistent deficit despite a large goods surplus. Sign conventions follow the official BPM6 international standard: inflows are recorded as positive, outflows as negative, and net flows equal inflows plus outflows. Consequently, imports in this table carry a negative sign, unlike customs trade data where both directions are positive. In the financial account, an increase in foreign assets is recorded as negative and an increase in foreign liabilities as positive—thanks to this convention, the current account plus the capital and financial account plus errors and omissions sum to exactly zero, which serves as the table's internal check (verified across all 113 quarters with absolute precision). Data is released approximately three months after the reference period, and SAFE employs a revision mechanism for historical quarters, meaning each update overwrites the entire series. Source: State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) of China.