The branches and foreign exchange administrative departments of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) in all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government; the SAFE branches in Shenzhen, Dalian , Qingdao , Xiamen , and Ningbo ; China UnionPay Co., Ltd.; and all designated Chinese-funded foreign exchange banks:

To regulate the administration of foreign currency bank cards and facilitate the general publics understanding of the management policies for foreign currency bank cards, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange straightened out and integrated the laws and regulations on foreign exchange administration relating to foreign currency bank cards. We hereby notify you of the relevant issues as follows:

I. The term foreign currency bank cards as referred to in this Circular includes domestic foreign currency cards, which refers to those issued by domestic financial institutions (hereinafter referred to as domestic cards), and foreign bank cards, which refer to those issued by overseas institutions (hereinafter referred to as foreign cards), with the exception of RMB cards issued overseas institutions..

II. Classification of domestic cards

1. According to whom the cards are issued, domestic cards are classified into personal cards, i.e., those issued to natural persons, and entity cards, i.e., those issued to legal persons or other organizations and are to be used by the persons designated by such entities.

2. According to whether a line of credit is granted to the holder, domestic cards are classified into credit cards, which, within the line of credit granted by the issuing financial institution, allows the holders to use it before payment, and debit cards, the holders of which have no line of credit and must make a deposit on the cards before use.

3. According to the currency for which they are issued, domestic cards are classified into foreign currency cards, which refers to cards denominated in only one foreign currency, and home-foreign currency cards, which refers to cards denominated in both RMB and one or more foreign currencies.

III. Issuance and Use of Domestic Cards

1. Domestic financial institutions may issue foreign currency entity credit cards, provided that there is no foreign exchange fund in such cards. They may also issue foreign currency entity debit cards to entities that have foreign exchange accounts under the current account with the issuing financial institutions, provided that the foreign exchange funds in these cards shall be incorporated into the fund management in the foreign exchange accounts under the current account.

2. Personal cards can be used to draw cash in RMB over the counter of domestic banks, and the banks that accept personal cardholdersapplications for drawing cash in RMB shall promptly enter the foreign exchange settlement information into the management information system for individual foreign exchange settlement and sale information. Personal cards can also be used to draw cash in foreign currencies listed for exchange over the counter of the card-issuing financial institutions, but may not be overdrawn or be used at ATM to draw cash in foreign currencies.

3. Entity cards may not be used to draw cash in any foreign currency or RMB within the territory of China .

4. Domestic cards can be used outside of China to pay for consumption under the current account, but may not be used to pay for other transactions. See Items 5 through 10 below for the detailed management rules.

5. All card-issuing financial institutions shall configure their systems based on the merchant category codes (MCC) listed in the Merchant Category Codes for the Use of Domestic Bank Cards outside of China (See Annex 1) and strictly restrict offline transactions.

6. The merchant category codes as listed in Annex 1 include three categories: completely prohibited, limited in terms of amount, and fully open. Completely prohibited codes refer to codes for which the cardholders are prohibited from carrying out transactions. Limited-in-amount codes refer to codes for which the amount of a single transaction made by a cardholder is limited to the equivalent of USD5, 000 or less, with the exception of the codes 6010 and 6011. Fully open codes refer to the codes for which there is no limit to the transaction amount.

7. Card-issuing financial institutions shall set a limit on cash withdrawals overseas under the merchant category codes 6010 (cash withdrawals over the counter) and 6011 (cash withdrawals at ATMs). The limit shall be the equivalent of USD1,000 per day cumulatively, USD5,000 per month cumulatively, and USD10,000 for each six months cumulatively.

8. All card-issuing financial institutions that carry out authorized transactions through an international bank card organization shall abide by the provisions of this Circular.

9. Card-issuing financial institutions that fail to set up the system in time due to technical problems or for any other reason shall report the incompliant transactions that occurred each month one by one to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

10. The merchant category codes listed in Annex 1 include four bank card organizations, i.e., Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and JCB. Financial institutions that issue cards bearing the symbol of other bank card organizations must report the involved merchant category codes to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange for archival purposes.

IV. Acquiring Services for Foreign Cards

1. With a foreign card, one can withdraw cash in RMB within the territory of China . To withdraw cash over the counter, the bank shall promptly enter the foreign exchange settlement data into the management information system for individual foreign exchange settlement and sale; to withdraw cash at an ATM, the maximum amount shall be RMB3, 000 for each time.
With a foreign card, one can also withdraw cash in foreign currencies over the counter of a domestic financial institution; withdrawals in foreign cash are not allowed at ATMs.

2. With regard to the un-used part of the RMB cash withdrawn within the territory of China by an overseas individual with a foreign card, he/she may, within 6 months after such withdrawal, have the amount converted back into the foreign currency over the counter of a bank upon the strength of the original voucher, such as the relevant ATM slip or the slip obtained at the counter of the acquiring financial institution, and may remit or carry it out of China in line with the relevant provisions.

3. Deposits of money into a foreign card through a domestic financial institution shall be deemed as remitting money overseas and shall be governed by the relevant provisions of the SAFE.

4. Foreign-funded financial institutions within the territory of China that have not opened the RMB business shall, when providing acquiring services for foreign cards, settle the RMB funds for the bank card through a special RMB account for foreign exchange settlement and sale opened upon the approval of the branch or sub-branch of the Peoples Bank of China in the place where the institution is located.

V. Clearing, Payment, and Exchange Purchases with Foreign Currency Bank Cards

1. The use of foreign currency bank cards within the territory of China shall be governed by the provisions on foreign exchange administration prohibiting the valuation or settlement in foreign currencies within the territory of China . The settlement of transactions involving foreign currency bank cards accepted by domestic merchants (including duty-free shops) with the acquiring financial institutions shall be made in RMB.

2. Domestic card transactions within the territory of China shall be settled in RMB through domestic clearing channels after deducting the amount of cash in foreign currencies withdrawn over the counter. Any overdraft arising from domestic transactions shall be paid by the cardholder in RMB.

3. If, for any reason, the clearing of domestic transactions made within the territory of China with domestic cards is made through an international bank card organization, the card-issuing financial institution may, after clearing in foreign currency, purchase exchange with the RMB funds repaid by the cardholder to make up for the foreign exchange that has been used in the clearing. Clearing through an international bank card organization refers to two circumstances: the clearing of domestic transactions made with domestic foreign currency cards through an international bank card organization; and wrong throw,in which the clearing is made through an international bank card organization due to the acquiring service institutions mistreating a domestic home-foreign currency card as a foreign currency card, which, when used within the territory of China, shall be regarded as a RMB card.

4. The exchange received by an acquiring financial institution from an international bank card organization in connection with foreign currency bank card transactions within the territory of China shall, after deducting the amount of cash withdrawn over the counter in foreign currencies, be promptly settled.

5. Clearing between a merchant approved to accept, outside the territory of China , foreign currency bank cards, such as a domestic airline company, and an acquiring financial institution may be conducted in foreign exchange, and the card-issuing financial institution may make payments in foreign exchange.

6. For any overdraft of a domestic card arising from consumption or cash withdrawals outside China , the cardholder may make repayments with either his/her own foreign exchange or with the foreign exchange purchased from the card-issuing financial institution.

7. Where a card-issuing financial institution handles the foregoing exchange sales, the amount of exchange sold may not exceed the amount of foreign currency overdraft already accumulated on the domestic card, and the foreign exchange must be directly used to pay off the existing overdraft.

8. Various expenses by the domestic cards, annual fees, and fees for card replacement shall be calculated and charged in RMB, while other expenses may be either directly withheld by the banks from the exchange balance in the cards or paid by the cardholders in RMB.

9. Except for foreign exchange settlement for consumption within the territory of China with foreign currency cards (including domestic cards and foreign cards), withdrawal of RMB cash at ATMs with foreign cards and foreign exchange purchases for repayment of consumer expenditures made overseas with domestic cards, the individual foreign exchange settlement and sale business by bank cards shall be entered into the management information system for individual foreign exchange settlement and sale in line with the provisions.

10. Individuals who handle foreign exchange transactions through bank cards both inside and outside China must strictly observe the Measures for Individual Foreign Exchange Administration (Decree No. 3 [2006] of the Peoples Bank of China), the Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Measures for Individual Foreign Exchange Administration (Annex to Document of Huifa No. 1 [2007]), and other provisions on individual foreign exchange administration.

VI. Statistics and Filing of the Relevant Business of Foreign Currency Bank Cards

1. According to the principle of territorial jurisdiction, the foreign exchange settlement and sales statistics pertaining to foreign currency bank cards shall be made by the financial institutions receiving and settling the foreign exchange or withholding the amount in RMB and purchasing foreign exchange.

2. Declaration of the balance of payments statistics in connection with foreign currency bank cards shall be made in line with the Circular of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Printing and Distributing the Operating Rules for the Declaration of Balance of Payments Statistics through Financial Institutions (Huifa No.22 [2010]).

3. All card-issuing financial institutions shall summarize and annually file the Statistical Statements on Transactions and Foreign Exchange Purchases of Domestic Foreign Currency Bank Cards (see Annex 2) with the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. The statistical statements shall be submitted in hard copy (affixed with the official seal of the business department) within one month after the end of each year to: Huarong Plaza , No. 18, Fucheng Road , Haidian District, Beijing . Addressee: Bank Foreign Exchange Receipt and Expenditure Division, Balance of Payments Department of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. Postal code: 100048.

4. Regarding large-sum deposits, cash withdrawals, or consumptions by foreign currency bank cards, the domestic financial institutions shall strictly fulfill the reporting obligations for anti-money laundering purposes.

VII. Others

1. The consumption, cash withdrawal limits, and reporting of large-sum transactions with the affiliated cards of a domestic card shall be managed under the same account as the principal card.

2. In this Circular, one month refers to a calendar month, and six monthsrefers to six consecutive calendar months.

3. Domestic RMB card clearing organizations shall do a good job in the RMB clearing of domestic transactions involving home-foreign currency cards. Card-issuing financial institutions must report the bank identification number (BIN) of their home-foreign currency cards to the domestic RMB card clearing organizations for download by the acquiring financial institutions. The acquiring financial institutions shall properly set up bank card systems under which a RMB card is preferred over other cards when being read.

4. For the use of RMB cards outside of China , domestic RMB card clearing organizations responsible for information transfers shall make system setups in a unified way under the guidance of Annex 1. Domestic RMB card clearing organizations shall put Code 6010 in the completely prohibited category to prevent the use of RMB cards for the withdrawal of cash over the counter of banks outside of China . Monetary limits shall be set on Code 6011 which shall be the equivalent of RMB10, 000 per card per day.

5. Financial institutions operating foreign currency bank card business shall inform its customers of the foreign exchange administration policies in relation to foreign currency bank cards in a comprehensive and objective manner, and explain to the public the administrative provisions concerning the scope of use, overdrafts, and repayment of foreign currency bank cards. Any unilateral publicity or misleading representation shall be prevented.

6. All local foreign exchange authorities shall follow up and inspect implementation of the foreign exchange administration regulations and policies by domestic financial institutions within their jurisdiction of any dubious information involved in the publicity and business development in connection with the foreign currency bank cards. Any financial institution that makes any unilateral or false publicity shall be ordered to make corrections. The local foreign exchange authorities may, pursuant to the Regulations of the Peoples Republic of China on Foreign Exchange Administrtion and other relevant foreign administration regulations, impose penalties on the financial institutions, merchants, and individuals that violate the provisions on foreign exchange administration.

VIII. This Circular shall come into force as of November 1, 2010. At the same time, the Circular of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Regulating the Administration of Foreign Currency Bank Cards (Huifa No.66 [2004]), the Circular of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Issuing the Merchant Category Codes Prohibited and Restricted for the Use of Domestic Bank Cards outside China (Huihan No.19 [2004]), the Circular of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Updating the Merchant Category Codes for the Use of Domestic Bank Cards outside China (Huifa No.110 [2004]), and the Circular of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Regulating Some New Merchant Category Codes for the Use of Domestic Bank Cards outside China (Huifa No.55 [2007]) shall be abolished.

All branches and foreign exchange administration departments shall, after receiving this Circular, forward it to all central sub-branches, sub-branches, and Chinese-funded and foreign-funded financial institutions as soon as possible. In cases of any problems encountered during implementation, please immediately report them to the Balance of Payments Department of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. Tel: 010-68402313, fax: 68402315.