(File photo)

BEIJING, Oct. 7 -- China's foreign exchange reserves fell to 3.51 trillion U.S. dollars at the end of September, the country's central bank announced on Wednesday.

The reserves decreased by 43.26 billion U.S. dollars in September, marking the fourth consecutive month of declines, according to the People's Bank of China.

But the decrease was not as sharp as in August. The reserves dropped by a record 93.9 billion U.S. dollars in August.

The country's gold reserves fell from 61.795 billion U.S. dollars at the end of August to 61.189 billion U.S. dollars at the end of September.