BEIJING - The central bank's efforts to stabilize the Chinese yuan is the major reason for China's falling foreign exchange reserve, the forex watchdog said Saturday.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC)'s forex market operations, price fluctuations of the forex reserve's investment assets and exchange rate against the dollar have influenced China's forex reserve, according to a statement released by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE).

China's forex reserve continued to shrink in December, falling for the sixth straight month, but the overall annual drop in 2016 narrowed year on year, official data showed Saturday.