This photo taken on March 3, 2020 shows US dollar banknotes in Washington DC, the United States. (LIU JIE / XINHUA)

BEIJING - China's banks saw a net forex settlement surplus of $180 billion in the first three quarters, the country's forex regulator said Friday.

Forex purchases by banks stood at around 1.86 trillion dollars, while sales reached nearly $1.68 trillion, data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) showed.

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The surplus in forex settlement indicated that China's stable recovery has underpinned the stable operation of the forex market, said Wang Chunying, spokesperson with the SAFE.