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
Russia said on Wednesday that its armed forces gained control over a settlement in Zaporizhzhia region in southeastern Ukraine, while Ukraine said on the same day that its armed forces attacked multiple Russian strategic infrastructure.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said in its latest report that Russian forces brought under controlled the Zarechnoye Settlement in Zaporizhzhia Region and attacked Ukrainian troops in the direction of Sumy and Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine over the past 24 hours.
The ministry also said that over the past day, Russian forces struck Ukrainian military-industrial enterprises, energy facilities, transportation infrastructure, and temporary deployment points of Ukrainian troops and foreign mercenaries across 147 locations.
Meanwhile, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a war report released on Wednesday that Ukrainian forces attacked multiple Russian targets earlier on the day.
The report said that a synthetic rubber plant, which was located in the Russian city of Yefremov in the Tula Region and was used to produce components for plastic explosives and key raw materials for solid rocket fuel, was attacked.
It also reported that the Ukrainian forces struck a Russian base for unmanned vessel storage and maintenance in Crimea.
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said on the same day that Russian forces thwarted a planned sabotage and terrorist attack targeting critical infrastructure in the Tyumen Region.
According to the FSB, the suspect acted on orders from Ukrainian special services and planned an attack on a dispatch station of a major oil pipeline operated by the Russian company Transneft.
The individual attempted to extract components he had bought from a cache to assemble an improvised explosive device earlier on the day. When security personnel tried to capture him, he offered armed resistance and was eventually neutralized, the FSB said.
Also on Wednesday, Ihor Terekhov, mayor of Kharkiv, said that a thermal power plant on the outskirts of the city was attacked by Russian forces on the day, resulting in one death and 13 injuries so far.
Additionally, the attack has directly impacted local heating supply and public transportation operations.
Russia claims controlling new settlement, Ukraine reports striking Russian strategic infrastructure
