BEIJING -- China's commercial banks reported a net forex settlement surplus of 545.2 billion yuan (about $85.2 billion) in the first half of the year (H1), the country's forex regulator said Friday.

Forex purchases by banks stood at 8.6 trillion yuan, while sales reached about 8.1 trillion yuan, data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed.

China's forex market demonstrated stronger resilience in the past six months amid the lingering pandemic and weaker global economic outlook, Wang Chunying, deputy director and spokesperson of the administration, said at a press conference.

She said that China has maintained a relatively stable RMB exchange rate and steady cross-border capital flows during the period.