China achieves stable balance in int'l payments for 2024

China maintained a basic equilibrium in the balance of payments in 2024, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) reported on Friday.

According to the latest data, China's current account surplus reached 423.9 billion U.S. dollars in 2024 and the current account surplus to gross domestic product ratio stood at 2.2 percent last year, staying within a reasonable range.

The administration reported China's relatively high surplus of trade in goods, optimized structure of export commodities and more diversified trading partners.

It noted that the imports and exports of China's service trade performed robustly, with the trade deficit remaining generally stable. Cross-border travel expenditures returned to normal levels, while cross-border travel income and trade revenue from emerging productive service grew rapidly.

During the same period, the non-reserve financial account registered a deficit, primarily due to enterprises and other entities leveraging domestic and international markets as well as global resources to optimize their investment layouts, said SAFE, adding that outward direct investment and outward portfolio investment remained active.

Foreign direct investment inflows amounted to 90.9 billion U.S. dollars, and the net inflows of foreign holdings of domestic bonds reached 46.8 billion U.S. dollars. By the end of 2024, China's external assets exceeded 10 trillion U.S. dollars, while its external liabilities approached 7 trillion U.S. dollars, up 6.1 percent and 2.2 percent respectively, compared to the end of 2023.

An official from the administration stated that in 2025, the external environment will become more complex and severe, due to the global economy's insufficient growth momentum, intensified unilateralism and protectionism, and tense geopolitical situations.

The official stressed that China is accelerating the formation of a new development pattern, implementing more proactive and effective macro policies, comprehensively expanding domestic demand, and promoting a sustained and favorable economic recovery, to offer a solid foundation for the stable operation of the balance of payments.

China achieves stable balance in int'l payments for 2024

Israeli army chief Eyal Zamir said on Friday that Israel remains committed to the complete demilitarization of the Gaza Strip and the disarmament of Hamas, according to a statement issued by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

"We are not giving up on the war goal -- the complete demilitarization of the Gaza Strip and the disarmament of Hamas," Zamir said during a tour of the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah.

Accompanied by senior commanders, he ordered forces to intensify clearing operations in the area with a focus on destroying tunnel networks.

The army chief noted that troops are deployed along the "Yellow Line," demarcating Israeli-controlled areas under the ceasefire, systematically clearing "terrorist" infrastructure while controlling access to the strip.

Earlier on Friday, the IDF said in a statement that its troops in the northern Gaza Strip identified two militants entering a structure east of the "Yellow Line." The Israeli Air Force subsequently struck the building, with a hit confirmed.

A day earlier, senior Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi said Palestinian factions would not give up their weapons unless Israel fully adheres to the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip.

The latest Hamas-Israel ceasefire, in effect since Oct. 10, 2025, initially focused on prisoner exchanges and humanitarian aid to Gaza. A proposed second phase of the peace plan calls for a full Israeli military withdrawal, the disarmament of Hamas, and the start of reconstruction in the enclave under a transitional governing authority.

Israeli army chief says Gaza demilitarization remains top goal