The country's foreign exchange reserves - the world's largest - fell $56.5 billion to $3.071 trillion last month, compared with $3.113 trillion tipped by a Reuters poll of analysts and $3.128 trillion in May.
For the first half of 2022, China's foreign exchange reserves fell $178.9 billion, data from the central bank showed, inching towards a closely watched threshold at $3 trillion.
The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) said in a statement that the 1.8% drop in June reserves mainly reflected valuation effects, as the dollar rose and global asset prices fell sharply amid worries over inflation and the growth outlook.
"At present, global economic growth has slowed, inflation remains high, international financial market volatility has increased, and the external environment has become more complex and severe," SAFE said.
But China's resilient economic fundamentals and long-term growth potential will help to keep the country's foreign exchange reserves largely steady, the regulator said.
The yuan fell 0.4% against the dollar in June, while the dollar rose 2.9% in June against a basket of other major currencies.
China held 62.64 million fine troy ounces of gold at the end of June, unchanged from end-May.
The value of China's gold reserves fell to $113.82 billion at the end of June from $115.18 billion at end-May.
(Reporting by Judy Hua and Kevin Yao; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Edmund Klamann)
