BEIJING, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- China's foreign exchange reserves rose for the 11th month in a row to 3.14 trillion U.S. dollars at the end of December, data from the central bank showed Sunday.

This marked the highest level since September 2016, according to the People's Bank of China.

The reserves gained 20.7 billion dollars from a month earlier, faster than the market forecast, which estimated the reserves to stand at 3.13 trillion dollars.

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) attributed the continued increase to stronger non-dollar denominated currencies and higher asset prices, while cross-border capital flows and transactions remained stable.

In January, the forex reserves fell below 3 trillion dollars, but as the economy is on firmer footing and the yuan continues to stabilize, the stockpile has increased steadily since February.

The country's steady economic growth and improving momentum have kept cross-border capital flows more stable and balanced, the SAFE said on its website. The sound international balance of payments data supported the continued rebound in forex reserves.

Looking ahead, the forex regulator said given the increasing stability and resilience of the economy, as well as further reform in the financial markets, China will keep its forex reserves and international balance of payments balanced and stable in 2018.

The country's economy grew 6.9 percent year on year in the first three quarters of 2017, above the government's annual target of around 6.5 percent.

Sunday's data also showed the country has kept its gold reserves unchanged from the year-start level of 59.24 million ounces in December, equivalent to 76.47 billion dollars.