China has not seen a surge in “hot money” coming in, the country’s foreign exchange regulator said on Thursday, despite the loose monetary policy in the US that Beijing has sometimes blamed for causing de- stabilising capital inflows.

A net $35.5bn of hot money, illegal speculative capital, entered the country last year, which was “ant-like” in comparison to the size of the economy, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said.

The build-up in China’s foreign exchange reserves over the past five years, which are by far the world’s largest at $2,850bn, has encouraged many analysts to speculate that large flows of overseas money were evading the country’s strict capital controls and finding their way into the local property and stock markets.