The Chinese foreign exchange market recorded transactions worth 100.28 trillion yuan (13.96 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first four months of this year, according to official data on Friday.
In April alone, the transaction volume in the foreign exchange market reached 29.04 trillion yuan (4.03 trillion U.S. dollars), the State Administration of Foreign Exchange data showed.
In breakdown, the transaction volume of the client market totaled 4.18 trillion yuan (580 billion U.S. dollars), and that of the interbank market came in at 24.86 trillion yuan (3.45 trillion U.S. dollars).
Regarding products, the cumulative transaction volume of the spot market was 9.55 trillion yuan (1.33 trillion U.S. dollars), and that of the derivatives market was 19.49 trillion yuan (2.71 trillion U.S. dollars).
China's forex market transactions total 100.28 trillion yuan in Jan-April
China's forex market transactions total 100.28 trillion yuan in Jan-April
Two major Qatari energy facilities shut down operations after being damaged during Iran's strikes targeting the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said on Tuesday, adding that the situation had been contained.
QatarEnergy announced on Monday that it had suspended liquefied natural gas (LNG) production following attacks on two of its energy facilities, and on Tuesday said it was suspending production of downstream natural gas products such as urea and methanol.
The shutdown sent gas prices skyrocketing on global energy markets, provoking fears of an energy crisis sparked by the conflict in the Middle East.
Speaking during his weekly press conference, Al-Ansari said that the decision to shut down the facilities was taken as a precaution, to ensure the safety of personnel and infrastructure after the strike damaged key production and processing sites.
"The damage was contained and now the operations to assess, technically, the safety of the facilities is underway. And from the defensive posture, as you have seen, we have been ready in monitoring and dealing with all of these attacks," he said.
Al-Ansari said that Qatar is committed to de-escalating the situation, and added that Qatar had not had any contact with Iran since Feb 28.
"Qatar's diplomatic stance has always been firm and clear: committed to peace, actively promoting de-escalation, advocating dialogue and consultation, and striving to resolve the conflict peacefully," he said.
Major Qatari energy facilities damaged in Iranian strikes: foreign ministry
