Foreign exchange reserve, also known as foreign exchange reserve, refers to the foreign exchange part of the international reserve assets held by a government, that is, the creditor's rights held by a government in foreign currency. It is an asset held by the national monetary authority and can be converted into foreign currency at any time. In a narrow sense, foreign exchange reserve is an important part of a country's economic strength, and it is a foreign exchange accumulation used by a country to balance international payments, stabilize exchange rates and repay foreign debts.

Broadly speaking, foreign exchange reserves refer to assets denominated in foreign exchange, including cash, foreign bank deposits and foreign securities. Foreign exchange reserve is an important part of a country's international liquidity, which has an important influence on balancing international payments and stabilizing exchange rate.

The specific forms of foreign exchange reserves include: short-term government deposits abroad or other means of payment that can be cashed abroad, such as foreign securities, checks, promissory notes, foreign currency drafts of foreign banks, etc. It is mainly used to pay off the balance of payments deficit, intervene in the foreign exchange market and maintain the local currency exchange rate.