China's foreign exchange reserves, already the world's largest, surpassed $1.2 trillion at the end of March, according to the country's central bank.
The reserves were up 12.7% from the beginning of the year, and 37.4% from a year earlier, the People's Bank of China said in a statement on its website.
The trade surplus, one main source of the bulging reserves, stood at $46.6 billion in the first three months, while foreign direct investment, another big contributor, reached $15.9 billion, data released earlier showed.
The two figures added together were well below the increase of $135.7 billion in reserves in the first three months of the year. The bank gave no explanation for the disparity.
Analysts said some of the extra reserves could be the result of hot money inflows, but could also reflect massive legal transactions.
The announcement of the reserves came a few days after a senior legislator said China needed only $650 billion for security purposes.
