BEIJING, June 20 (Xinhua) -- China's commercial banks reported a net forex settlement surplus in May after registering net deficits for three consecutive months.

Forex purchases by banks rose 4 percent month on month in May, while sales dropped by 7 percent, leading to a net forex settlement surplus of 6.2 billion U.S. dollars, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) said Thursday.

This ended net forex settlement deficits seen in the previous three months, with April reporting a net deficit of 11 billion dollars.

SAFE data also showed that non-banking departments saw forex-related settlement deficit shrink by 23 percent month on month in May.

May net forex purchases by individuals fell both compared with April and last May, while forex reserve also increased by 6.1 billion dollars from April.

China's forex market operated stably in May, and the continuous reform and opening-up, abundant policy tools and stable market confidence will support the forex market's stability, SAFE spokesperson Wang Chunying said.

May data showed that China's forex market is increasingly mature, rational and ready to tackle various challenges, Wang said.