On the one hand, the country's foreign exchange reserves have reached a new high since the beginning of the year, increasing by 1.1% to $3.256 trillion. This indicates stability and confidence in the Chinese economy. On the other hand, China's oil imports fell to the lowest level since September 2022, amounting to 9.97 million barrels per day. In absolute terms, oil imports decreased by 8.9% compared to June and by 13.1% compared to July last year. Despite the decrease in oil imports, the total cost of its purchase increased by 5.5% in seven months, reaching $193.33 billion. This may indicate an increase in oil prices on the world market. At the same time, China continues to actively invest abroad. The volume of direct non-financial investments in the first half of the year increased by 16.6% to $72.62 billion. Special attention is paid to the countries located along the Belt and Road, where investments increased by 9.2% to $15.46 billion. In general, the economic picture of China in July 2024 looks ambiguous. On the one hand, there is an increase in foreign exchange reserves and active investments abroad. On the other hand, oil imports are declining, which may be due to various factors, such as changes in energy demand or fluctuations in oil prices.
