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On June 22, 2017, Pan Gongsheng, administrator of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), headed a delegation to Shenzhen for Inspections and held a seminar there to listen to the ideas, opinons and suggestions of relevant institutions on the conditions of China's foreign exchange market and the foreign exchange administration policies. According to Pan, since the beginning of this year, along with the accelerated upgrading and transformation of the economic structural adjustment, and in-depth advances of the supply-side reform, China has borne witness to steady and promisig economic growth at a mid-to-high speed. The foreign exchange market has performed stably, market expectations have remained stable, while foreign exchange reserves and RMB exchange rate have stayed steady, and cross-border capital flows and supply and demand in the foreign exchange maket have found a basic equilibrium. The cross-border trade and investment facilitation shall be further enhanced to better serve the real economy and openign up, Pan emphasized. Under the principle of the current account convertibility, efforts shall be made to duly support and ensure authentic and complying international payments and transfers under the current account, in a bid to enhance cross-border trade facilitation. The two-way liberalization of the finanical market shall be boosted in a stable and orderly manner, and the capable enterprises who meet the conditions shall be supported to be invovled in autheitc outward investments in compliance with regulations, so as to support Chinese enterprises to go global. The sound foreign exchange administration policy environment shall be built to support Chinese enterprieses to participate in the Belt and Road Initiative. Foreign exchange authorities are required to further deepen the foreign exchange administration reform and strengthen the building of their regulatory capabilities, according to Pan. The macro-prudential administration of cross-border capital flows and micro-market regulatory system shall be established to intensify ongoing and ex-post regulation. The monitoring and early warning of cross-border capital flows shall be refined and irregularities such as underground banks shall be cracked down on to safeguard the health and stability of the foreign exchange market and China's economic and financial security. As the frontier of China's reform and opening up, Shenzhen boasts a vibrant market, with market participants sensitive to policies and market signs. It is Pan's wish that Shenzhen Branch of the SAFE and participants in the foreign exchange market could break new ground and make innovations to continue to play a leading role in the new round of the reform and openning up and deliver reproducible and promotable experience with regard to the deepening of foreign exchange administration reform and the optimization of services. 2017-06-22/en/2017/0622/1319.html
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The General Administration of Customs (GAC), the State Administration of Taxation (SAT) and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) have recently signed the Framework Agreement on Cooperation Mechanism for Joint Regulation Based on Information Sharing (the Framework Agreement) in Beijing. On the same day, the GAC signed with SAT and SAFE the MOU on Advancing Joint Regulation Based on Information Sharing between the General Administration of Customs and the State Administration of Taxation, and the MOU on Advancing Joint Regulation Based on Information Sharing between the General Administration of Customs and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange respectively, as the implementation mechanisms of the Framework Agreement. According to the Framework Agreement, the three parties agree that they will accelerate the cross-department mutual information exchange, mutual regulation recognition, and mutual help in law enforcement, in a bid to improve ongoing and ex-post regulation, enhance management efficiency, and reduce management costs while guarding against and cracking down on smuggling, defrauding of export tax refunds, tax frauds and evasion, so as to ensure the national Customs, taxation and foreign exchange policies are effectively carried out. The three parties have defined their areas of cooperation and roles and responsibilities by signing the MOUs on advancing joint regulation based on information sharing. By stepping up information sharing, the three parties will be committed to improving the ongoing and ex-post regulatory system, pressing ahead with comprehensive law enforcement and enhancing management efficiency. They will push forward with comprehensive cooperation through inspection and feedback, and joint regulation among their branches and sub-branches to jointly implement incentives and punishments. Enhancing information sharing and performing joint regulation among the three authorities are the significant measures to implement theReformPlan of Implementing "Three Mutuals" to Advance Customs Clearance,which was issued by the State Council, and the bases and levers for joint governance among them and therefore have great implications for better guarding against and cracking down on smuggling, defrauding of export tax refunds, tax frauds and evasion. Going forward, the customs, taxation and foreign exchange authorities will continue to strengthen cooperation, and further improve the regulation of law enforcement within their respective jurisdiction to create management synergies, so that they can better serve the building of the social credit system and the healthy and sustainable economic development in China. 2017-04-21/en/2017/0421/1257.html
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Today bank cards have become the top tools for payments by individuals for overseas transactions. Statistics show that the total amount of the overseas bank card transactions by individuals surpassed USD 120 billion in 2016. In China, the statistics of balance of payments for overseas bank card transactions are collected on an aggregate basis. As the requirements against money laundering, terrorist financing, and BEPS rise in international collaboration, the collection of statistics on cross-border bank card transactions needs further enhancement in terms of financial transaction transparency and statistical quality. To improve the statistics on and safeguard the order of overseas bank card transactions, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) has recently published the Circular of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Reporting Overseas Bank Card Transactions by Financial Institutions (Huifa No. 15 [2017], hereinafter referred to as the Circular"). Pursuant to the Circular, domestic card issuing financial institutions shall report to the SAFE the information on all the overseas withdrawals and single deals worth the equivalent of more than RMB 1,000 via domestic bank cards starting from September 1, 2017. Collection of the information on overseas bank card transactions does not concern the adjustments of foreign exchange administration policies for overseas bank card transactions. The SAFE will continue to support and ensure the legal and convenient use of bank cards for overseas transactions by individuals under the current account. The information on overseas bank card transactions shall be reported by the card issuing financial institutions, and individuals need not declare otherwise. With no cost for using bank cards by individuals increasing, the SAFE will work to ensure the information security of cardholders in accordance with the law. The Circular will come into force as of the date of promulgation. 2017-06-02/en/2017/0602/1316.html
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On May 19, 2017, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) holds a seminar with foreign-funded enterprises. The seminar was chaired by Pan Gongsheng, administrator of the SAFE, and attended by many foreign-funded enterprises such as Ericsson, Caterpillar, Alps, Thyssenkrupp, Dell, ABB, Mars, and Johnson Controls. Representatives present introduced the operations of their enterprises and provided constructive ideas on foreign exchange administration based on their practices. According to Administrator Pan, China's cross-border capital flows are recovering with a good momentum for growth and finding an equilibrium. A stable and benign foreign exchange market is favorable for foreign-funded enterprises' operations in China, while maintaining the stability of the foreign exchange market requires the cooperation and concerted efforts of regulators and the market. Foreign exchange authorities will persevere in reform and opening up, and enhancing cross-border trade and investment facilitation to better serve the real economy, while guarding against risks arising from cross-border capital flows, and maintaining the stability of the foreign exchange market, so as to provide a healthy and benign market environment for market participants. 2017-05-19/en/2017/0519/1268.html
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On April 18, Pan Gongsheng, administrator of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) met with a delegation headed by Lee Theng Kiat, CEO of Singapore-based Temasek International in Beijing. The two sides had friendly dialogue and exchanged ideas on the investment strategy of Temasek in China, China's economic development and the opportunities to invest in the countries along the Belt and Road. 2017-04-19/en/2017/0419/1255.html
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On March 16, 2017, Pan Gongsheng, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China and administrator of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), met Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator at the Financial Times, the UK. Mr. Wolf held a lecture at the SAFE on the evolution of globalization and its impact on China. 2017-03-17/en/2017/0317/1253.html
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On December 11, 2016, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) announced that China had officially started to report to the BIS locational banking statistics (LBS) under the international banking statistics (IBS) and released China's data on its website, which shows that the quality of China's balance of payments statistics has been internationally recognized again, thanks to continuous improvement on transparency. Joining LBS is another key progress China has made to achieve the targets of the G20 Data Gaps Initiative (DGI) since implementing the sixth edition of the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual (BPM6) and participating in the IMF's Coordinated Portfolio Investment Survey (CPIS). Expanding the IBS-reporting population has been one of the targets of the G20 Data Gaps Initiative (DGI). China's joining takes the number of LBS-reporting countries to 46. A total of 12 EMEs now report to the LBS, along with 12 offshore financial centers and 22 advanced economies. At end-June 2016, banks in China reported outstanding cross-border claims of USD 778 billion and liabilities of USD 918 billion. This makes China the 10th largest cross-border creditor in the international banking market. Turning to the currency composition of the cross-border claims and liabilities, at end-June 2016 banks in China were net lenders of US dollars, with dollar claims of USD 549 billion and dollar liabilities of USD 274 billion, resulting in net claims of USD 275 billion. However, USD 358 billion of Chinese banks' cross-border liabilities were denominated in Renminbi, while Renminbi-denominated cross-border claims of banks in China stood at USD 73 billion, leading to USD 285 billion in net cross-border liabilities. The BIS text is available on its official website at www.bis.org/publ/qtrpdf/r_qt1612s.htm. 2016-12-13/en/2016/1213/1229.html
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Pan Gongsheng, Deputy Governor of the People's Bank of China and Administrator of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), has recently met with William Conway, Co-founder and Co-CEO of The Carlyle Group in Beijing. The two sides exchanged ideas on global economic and financial trends and the exchange rate movements of major economies. According to Administrator Pan Gongsheng, the currencies of major developed and emerging markets have depreciated recently on the rising expectations of the Fed's interest rate hikes. So has the RMB exchange rate against the USD. Nevertheless, the RMB exchange rate has stayed stable compared with other international reserve currencies and currencies of emerging market economies, falling slightly at the global level. Further, the RMB has appreciated against a basket of multilateral exchange rates. China's economy has been operating steadily, featuring positive progress in restructuring, faster growth of the new economic dynamics and stable financial markets. Under such circumstances, the RMB exchange rate will remain stable at a reasonable and even level, and there are no grounds for continuous depreciation. 2016-10-31/en/2016/1031/1213.html
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On the afternoon of December 9, Mr. Zhu Min, former vice president of the IMF, was invited to give a lecture entitled "Global Economic and Financial Trends" at the SAFE. The lecture was chaired by Pan Gongsheng, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China (PBC) and administrator of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), and attended by relevant officials from the PBC and the SAFE. Mr. Zhu briefed the audience on the relationship between the world economy and finance, the spillovers of the world economy and finance, future trends of the global economy and the orientation of the US economic policies. He also interacted and exchanged ideas with the audience on the monetary and exchange rate policies, the future movements of the US exchange rate and the impact on China's economy, as well as China's balance of payments. 2016-12-12/en/2016/1212/1228.html
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The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) and the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) has jointly held the third Deployment and Promotion Meeting in 2016 against underground banks. The two authorities have been closely collaborating and cooperating with each other to organize the crackdowns on underground banks. By tracking the foreign exchange irregularities behind underground banks, they have cracked many illicit trading of foreign exchange, and fabricated trading of foreign exchange through fake documents for cheated purchases, evasion and frauds of foreign exchange. Both authorities said that they will always maintain a tough stance on crimes such as underground banks, and rectify foreign exchange administration order so as to safeguard economic and financial security. 2016-12-14/en/2016/1214/1230.html