Washington, Sep 17 (IANS): China's holdings of US Treasury securities fell in July, while Japan increased its possession slightly, data showed.

China's holdings of the US treasuries dropped by about $30.4 billion to $1.2408 trillion in July, the latest data from the Treasury Department showed on Wednesday, Xinhua reported.

China's foreign exchange reserves fell to $3.56 trillion at the end of August, down $93.9 billion, marking the fourth consecutive month of falling forex reserves, according to the People's Bank of China (PBOC).

The PBOC attributed the drop partly to the falling prices of major financial assets on the global market, and its market operations to provide enough liquidity, as commercial banks, companies and individuals held more foreign currencies following a sharp depreciation of the yuan, the Chinese currency, in August.

In July, overall foreign holdings of US Treasury securities fell to $6.076 trillion from June's $6.175 trillion.