Based on the work arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council for current economic conditions and the coming period, as well as in the spirit of the Seminar for Presidents from Branches and Sub-branches of the People’s Bank of China, the 2013 Mid-year Branch Directors’ Meeting that was recently convened by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) summarized the progress achieved in foreign exchange administration since the beginning of this year, studied and analyzed regarding the financial foreign exchange situation, and mapped out the priorities for foreign exchange administration for the second half of the year. Safe administrator Yi Gang delivered a work report, and deputy administrators, heads of the discipline inspection teams, chief economists, chief accountants, and heads of the SAFE branches (foreign exchange administration departments) and SAFE departments were all present.

The conference pointed out, led by the party committee of the People’s Bank of China, that the foreign exchange administration bureaus have followed the uniform arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council and the spirit of the 18th CPC National Congress and the Central Economic Work Conference, have accelerated the five transformations in the concepts and approaches to foreign exchange administration since the beginning of this year, significantly improving their capability to work for the real economy and to improve the quality of services. Specifically their achievements are as follows: First, they have done whatever it takes to control risks and they have introduced a package of measures to enhance foreign exchange administration, which has produced significant results. Second, the reform of foreign exchange administration for trade has been advanced, thus enhancing trade facilitation. The institutional reform of foreign exchange administration for trade in goods has proved fruitful, the reform of foreign exchange administration for trade in services has been accelerated, and foreign exchange administration for areas under special customs surveillance has been improved. Third, the reforms have been deepened, with the convertibility of the RMB capital accounts steadily enhanced. The IT basis for capital account management has been strengthened, administration of foreign debts and capital markets has been streamlined and power has been delegated to lower levels, institutions for QFII, RQFII, and QDII have been implemented, and foreign exchange administration for cross-border guarantees has been improved. Fourth, transformation of the approaches to foreign exchange administration has been advanced to support the transformation and upgrading of the real economy. The pilot program for centralized use of foreign exchange by multinationals has been advanced, foreign bonds and external guarantee indicators have been optimized, development of cross-border e-commerce has been supported, and infrastructure construction for the foreign exchange market has been advanced. Fifth, the operation and management of foreign exchange reserves have been improved to ensure the security of foreign exchange reserve assets. Sixth, with a focus on improving regional foreign exchange situation, advances in basic tasks like systematic research and statistics for foreign exchange administration have made further progress. Seventh, administration streamlining and power delegation as well as the streamlining of regulations have been carried out more rigorously to further increase the transparency of foreign exchange administration. Eighth, the CPC Central Committee eight-point code has been implemented to further build a clean and honest government and CPC teams.

The conference also studied and determined the priorities for foreign exchange administration for the coming period. First, the five transformations in the concepts and approaches to foreign exchange administration need to be accelerated to prevent any risks associated with cross-border capital flows. Monitoring and analysis of the foreign exchange situation should be strengthened, with the building of a platform for monitoring and analysis of cross-border capital flows further advanced and contingency plans and policies further fleshed out. Second, the transformation of government functions needs to be accelerated, with trade and investment facilitation enhanced. The benefits from the institutional reform of foreign exchange administration for trade in goods need to be consolidated and the reform of foreign exchange administration for trade in services needs to be advanced. Third, the convertibility of capital accounts should be steadily advanced. The capital market should continue to be liberalized in an orderly way and more conveniences should be provided for management of the capital account. Fourth, the CPC’s mass line campaign should be rigorously implemented.  Closely following these themes, the campaign must be advanced vigorously and the work styles of officials must be transformed to make sure concrete benefits are achieved through this campaign.

The conference stressed that since the tasks for foreign exchange administration for the coming period are arduous, the foreign exchange administration bureaus at all levels must follow completely the spirit of the 18th CPC National Congress and align their thoughts and actions with the central government’s analysis and judgment regarding China’s economic condition and related decisions and arrangements by making steady progress, deepening the reforms, streamlining administration, delegating power, and preventing risks, to fully strengthen support for the economic restructuring, transformation, and upgrading.