Capital flowed out from the Chinese market in the first half of the year, but it was not "a massive and concentrated evacuation", an official from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said.

The country's balance of international payments in the second quarter on Tuesday showed a deficit of $71.4 billion in the capital and financial account after a surplus in the first three months, indicating that capital might have flowed out at a faster pace, the administration said.

"The recent changes were mainly because foreign exchange assets are shifting from the central bank to domestic institutions and individuals," the SAFE official said, denying that large amounts of foreign capital are evacuating.

"Even if the data showed a net outflow of capital, it is still affordable," he added.

In the first quarter, the capital and financial account surplus was at $51.1 billion, compared with a deficit of $48 billion in the fourth quarter of last year, according to the data from SAFE.

chenjia1@chinadaily.com.cn