The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) said Tuesday Chinese banks' foreign exchange surplus on behalf of clients hit US$29.1 billion in August, up 9.4 percent from the previous month.

Foreign exchange sales to banks totaled 113.2 billion U.S. dollars in August while foreign exchange purchases from banks amounted to 84.1 billion U.S. dollars, according to a statement on the SAFE website.

On behalf of clients, Chinese banks received 163.4 billion U.S. dollars and paid 137.1 billion U.S. dollars in overseas-related business in August.

The statement did not give reasons for the surplus rise.

The surplus of Chinese banks' forex purchases and sales on behalf of clients totaled 26.6 billion U.S. dollars in July.

The banks purchased 114.2 billion U.S. dollars of forex and sold 87.6 billion U.S. dollars of forex to clients in July.