Beijing, Oct 7 (IANS): China's foreign exchange reserves fell to $3.51 trillion at the end of September, the country's central bank said on Wednesday.

The reserves decreased by $43.26 billion in September, marking the fourth consecutive month of declines, Xinhua cited People's Bank of China as saying.

The decrease was not as sharp as in August. The reserves dropped by a record $93.9 billion in August.

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

In the third quarter, forex reserves fell by $179.66 billion, much more than the $40 billion decrease in the second quarter, marking a fifth consecutive quarterly drop.

Fuelled by exports, forex reserves grew for more than a decade before beginning their decline in the third quarter of 2014.

China is battling a property downturn, industrial overcapacity, sluggish demand and struggling exports, which dragged growth down to seven percent for the first half of the year.