China's newly-added foreign exchange reserves since 2003 have lost about $271.1 billion by the end of 2010 as a result of the depreciation of the US dollar, an expert with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said recently.

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Zhang Anyuan, who heads the division of fiscal and financial policy research of the NDRC's Institute of Economic Research, said if the dollar keeps going down and the exchange rate hit one dollar against six yuan in the future, China's losses could reach $578.6 billion.

"This amount of loss cannot be offset by the country's overseas investment earnings," Zhang said.

Zhang urged the government to diversify the portfolio of foreign exchange reserves quickly.