BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese commercial banks recorded a net foreign exchange purchase in April, compared with a net sale in March, the country's forex regulator said Friday.

Chinese lenders bought 157.4 billion U.S. dollars' worth of foreign currencies and sold 146.7 billion dollars last month, resulting in a net purchase of 10.6 billion dollars, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) said in a statement.

In March, the banks saw a net forex sale of 9.2 billion dollars.