China has the world’s largest foreign-exchange reserves. Its reserves are managed primarily by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange and are held in assets such as foreign-currency securities, deposits and other internationally accepted reserve instruments.
China’s reserves expanded dramatically after decades of export-led growth and large trade surpluses. They passed the equivalent of 1 trillion U.S. dollars in 2006 and reached a peak of about 4 trillion dollars in 2014. In 2026, official figures still placed China’s holdings above 3.4 trillion dollars, far ahead of other individual countries.
Foreign-exchange reserves help a country pay for imports, support international payments and provide a buffer during financial stress. They are not the same as a government’s total wealth, annual budget or gold holdings alone. Japan, India and South Korea also hold substantial reserves, which explains the common mix-up, but China remains the clear leader by total foreign-currency reserves.