WASHINGTON -- China increased its holdings of US Treasury securities in December last year after cutting 12.6 billion US dollars in the previous month, The US Treasury Department said on Thursday.

China's holdings of US treasuries went up 8.3 billion dollars to 1.1849 trillion dollars in December. China remained as the largest foreign holder of US treasuries.

Japan, the second largest holder of US treasuries, continued to cut its holdings for five months in a row. Its holdings dropped 22.6 billion dollars to 1.0615 trillion dollars.

By the end of December last year, overall foreign holdings of US Treasury securities slightly dropped to 6.3103 trillion dollars from November's revised 6.3331 trillion dollars.

China's foreign exchange reserves rose for the 12th straight month to reach 3.1615 trillion dollars at the end of January.

The country's forex reserves will continue to maintain stable in the future, said China's forex regulator State Administration of Foreign Exchange, citing positive economic fundamentals and a recovering of global economy.