China's foreign exchange reserves rose slightly in March as escalating trade tensions with the US bolstered expectations of a firmer Chinese currency.

The central bank said on Sunday that reserves rose nine billion US dollars to 3.14 trillion dollars last month. That's a rebound from February's twenty-seven-billion dollar drop. Meanwhile the value of gold reserves rose 350 million dollars. The Chinese currency also rose zero-point-eight percent versus the dollar in March, which Beijing may be happy to see amid rising bilateral trade tensions.