TAIPEI, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Taiwan's foreign exchange reserves rose by $16.514 billion in December, the fastest monthly rise on record, the central bank said on Wednesday, adding it had had to intervene in the forex market owing to the flood of foreign capital.

Taiwan's foreign currency reserves hit $529.911 billion in total last month, the central bank added.

(Reporting by Liang-sa Loh; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Andrew Heavens)