China's foreign reserves dropped by the most in nearly a year during November, as Beijing sought to defend its falling currency and capital continued to leave the country.
The closely watched figure declined by $US69.1 billion for the month to $3.1 trillion, more than analysts had expected.
The decline is the largest since January's decline of $99.4 billion, when capital was rushing out of China amid fears of a sharp economic slow-down.
In an effort to calm fears of a similar exodus the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) said the decline was partially due to the strengthening US dollar.
The regulator also said the fall was a result of China's "going out" policy where companies have been encouraged to buy assets overseas and efforts to keep the yuan stable.
While China is still sitting on the world's largest reserves of foreign currency, this so called "war chest" has declined by around $1 trillion yuan since peaking in June 2014.
In an effort to stem capital outflows and keep the yuan relatively strong, Beijing has announced a series of measure over recent weeks to make it more difficult to take capital out of the country.
There are reports some foreign companies are having trouble remitting dividends back home, while authorities are placing greater scrutiny on offshore deals over $US1 billion.
Foreign currency transfers greater than $US5 million are also being more closely monitored by authorities.
In the face of a stronger US dollar, the yuan has fallen more than 8 per cent this year and is trading at an eight year low.
