China's service trade registered rapid growth in the first three quarters of 2024, with a steep increase in the trade of travel-related services, according to official data released on Tuesday.
The country's service trade totaled nearly 5.52 trillion yuan (around 776 billion U.S. dollars) from January to September, up 14.5 percent year on year, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
Services exports came in at 2.27 trillion yuan in the January-September period, rising 15.3 percent from the same period last year, and services imports went up 14 percent year on year to 3.24 trillion yuan, resulting in a deficit of some 971 billion yuan.
Trade in knowledge-intensive services rose 5.3 percent year on year to 2.13 trillion yuan, the data revealed.
Travel services saw a stellar performance in the first nine months, as imports and exports of travel services totaled 1.5 trillion yuan from January to September, a remarkable increase of 42.8 percent year on year.
China's service trade grows in Q1-3
U.S. stocks and global gold prices plummeted while crude futures surged after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday.
Trump said in a post on Truth Social that the U.S. Navy would begin blocking ships trying to enter or leave the Strait of Hormuz, after peace talks with Iran failed to produce a deal.
U.S. stocks market reacted strongly to his announcement, with futures of Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Index nosediving by over 1 percent.
Meanwhile, global gold prices also tumbled. June gold futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell below 4,700 U.S. dollars per ounce, with losses at one point exceeding 2 percent.
The oil prices, on the contrary, rose significantly. As of 6:50 a.m. Beijing time on Monday, the West Texas Intermediate futures for May delivery soared 8.13 percent to settle at 104.42 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude futures for June delivery increased 7.52 percent to settle at 102.36 U.S. dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
U.S. media reported that the failure of Iran-U.S. peace talks concerns the market, as the war could last longer than expected, which will further push up the oil prices and put more pressure on global economy.
US stocks, gold prices plunge as crude futures surge after Trump announces blockade of Strait of Hormuz
