French shipping company CMA CGM Group has announced it will resume Red Sea transits on a case-by-case basis.

The Marseille-based carrier said, "We have reevaluated the situation in the Southern Area of the Red Sea and the evolving conditions allow us to resume transit on a case-by-case basis."

CMA CGM noted that "the situation is being closely assessed for each vessel before each transit, routing choices, therefore, cannot be anticipated or communicated."

Otherwise, all other vessels will be rerouted via the Cape of Good Hope.

The French container line halted sailings through the Red Sea on 1 February routing all its vessels via the Cape of Good Hope due to continued attacks on cargo ships in the region from Yemen's Houthi movement.

The impact of the Red Sea crisis is less severe than Covid-19, although the TEU-mile boost has been significant.

Clarksons’ latest Container Intelligence Monthly stated that compared with December 2023, TEU-miles have gone up by around 11%, as around 620 ships of 8.5 million TEUs are rerouting from the Suez Canal to the Cape of Good Hope to avoid attacks from Houthi rebels.

Contextualised against Covid-19, where surging e-commerce sales and heightened inspections caused logistical bottlenecks worldwide, Clarksons said that the Red Sea effect has been milder.

The Shanghai Containerised Freight Index hit 5,110 points in January 2022, but currently, the index has been hovering around 2,200 points.

“Indeed, while shipper costs have increased significantly amid current disruption, they remain well below those during the pandemic.”

The world’s largest shipbroker illustrated that the cost of shipping a pair of shoes from Asia to Europe went up by 21 US cents in early December 2023 to 78 US cents in mid-January 2024, but remains below the January peak of US$1.95.

China's current account surplus amounted to 264.2 billion U.S. dollars at the end of 2023, according to data released on Sunday by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange Control /SACC/ of the People's Republic of China.

The ratio of current account surplus to GDP for the period amounted to 1.5 percent, being within a rational and balanced range, the department said.

The trade surplus in goods last year reached 608 billion dollars, the second highest in history, GUWC data showed.

Thanks to the economic recovery, the country's foreign trade has expanded every quarter, maintaining a relatively large current account surplus, said Wang Chunying, an official spokeswoman for the GUVC.

According to the GUWC, the tourism and transportation sectors again recorded large deficits. The deficit in the tourism sector amounted to $180.6 billion.

As for the capital market, the observed overall net inflow of foreign investment into China and the increase in investment from abroad in the domestic securities market indicate that foreign investors are determined to do business in China and place assets in RMB.

Looking ahead to 2024, Wang Chunying noted that with the improvement of the domestic and external environment, China has the foundation and conditions to maintain a basic balance of payments equilibrium.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Inhazio Cassis, member of the Federal Council and head of the Swiss Foreign Ministry, jointly held the 3rd round of the China-Switzerland Foreign Ministerial Strategic Dialogue in Beijing on Wednesday.

Wang Yi, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, said China-Switzerland relations have stood the test of time, have long been at the forefront of China's bilateral relations with Western countries and are exemplary.

According to the Chinese foreign minister, China is ready to open up new prospects for China-Switzerland relations of innovative strategic partnership together with Switzerland under the leadership of the two leaders.

Cassis, for his part, pointed out that the two countries understand each other and have frank exchanges, and the existing differences do not affect bilateral cooperation. He added that Switzerland is willing to work with China to promote the further development of the Swiss-Chinese innovative strategic partnership relationship.

The two sides agreed to continue to respect each other's core interests, important concerns, system choices and development paths, and make effective use of the numerous mechanisms of intergovernmental dialog and cooperation. They also agreed to deepen cooperation in areas such as finance, science and innovation, education, intellectual property rights, climate change, green development and winter sports.

The Bedel checkpoint will be opened in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region / Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Northwest China/ this year, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR, Northwest China) Government Chairman Erkin Tuniyaz said on Tuesday, delivering a working report at the ongoing 2nd session of the 14th XUAR People's Congress.

The Bedel checkpoint, located on China's border with Kyrgyzstan, is more than 70 kilometers from Wushi County of Aksu District in Xinjiang and about 80 kilometers from the city of Karakol in Kyrgyzstan's Issyk-Kul Province. In addition, this checkpoint is only 350 kilometers from the Kazakh city of Almaty.

According to the report, Xinjiang will also accelerate the promotion of year-round operation of the Hongerab checkpoint on the China-Pakistan border.

In 2024, Xinjiang will accelerate the construction of infrastructure at border crossings and the establishment of "smart checkpoints," continuously optimizing the customs clearance process and enhancing cargo clearance capabilities, the report said.