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At the end of March 2010, China's outstanding external debt (excluding that of Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR, and Taiwan Province) reached USD443.236 billion, of which the outstanding registered external debt was USD276.436 billion and the balance of trade credit was USD166.8 billion. With respect to the terms, the outstanding long- and medium-term external debt (with the remaining term) was USD167.034 billion, accounting for 37.69 percent of the total outstanding external debt. The outstanding short-term external debt (with the remaining term) was USD276.202 billion, accounting for 62.31 percent of the total outstanding external debt. Specifically, the outstanding registered short-term external debt (with the remaining term) was USD109.402 billion and the balance of trade credit was USD166.8 billion. In terms of the type of debtor, outstanding sovereign debt borrowed by ministries under the State Council was USD38.43 billion, accounting for 13.90 percent of the total outstanding registered external debt; outstanding debt of Chinese-funded financial institutions was USD98.655 billion, accounting for 35.69 percent; the outstanding debt of foreign-funded enterprises was USD94.015 billion, accounting for 34.01 percent; outstanding debt of foreign-funded financial institutions in China was USD40.882 billion, accounting for 14.79 percent; the outstanding debt of Chinese-funded enterprises was USD4.145 billion, accounting for 1.50 percent; and outstanding debt of other institutions was USD309 million, accounting for 0.11 percent. With respect to the types of debt, the balance of international commercial loans amounted to USD208.129 billion, accounting for 75.29 percent of the outstanding registered external debt, with proportion rising by 0.87 percentage point compared with that at the end of 2009. The balance of foreign government loans and loans granted by international financial organizations amounted to USD68.307 billion, accounting for 24.71 percent of the outstanding registered external debt. In terms of the currency structure, the debt in U.S. dollars accounted for 70 percent of the outstanding registered external debt, representing an increase of 2.24 percentage points compared with that at the end of 2009. The debt in Japanese yen accounted for 11.04 percent, representing a decline of 0.85 percentage point compared with that at the end of 2009. The debt in euro accounted for 5.49 percent, representing a decline by 0.89 percentage point compared with that at the end of 2009; other kinds of debt including SDRs and HKD accounts accounted for 13.47 percent of the outstanding registered external debt, a decline of 0.5 percentage point compared with the end of 2009. In terms of the sectoral distribution with reference to the Industrial Classifications of the National Economy, USD40.145 billion was invested in the manufacturing sector, accounting for 21.45 percent of the medium- and long-term outstanding registered external debt (based on contract terms); USD24.427 billion was invested in the transportation, warehousing, and postal services sectors, accounting for 13.05 percent; USD16.024 billion was invested in the production and supply of electricity, coal, gas, and water, accounting for 8.56 percent; USD11.911 billion was invested in the information technology services sector, accounting for 6.37 percent; USD11.606 billion was invested in the real estate sector, accounting for 6.20 percent of the medium- and long-term outstanding registered external debt. From January to March 2010, medium- and long-term external borrowing totaled USD8.151 billion, an increase of USD4.347 billion or 114.27 percent over that during the same period of 2009; repayment of the principal was USD5.634 billion, a decrease of USD1.018 billion, or 15.30 percent, over that during the same period of 2009. The interest payment was USD694 million, a decrease of USD111 million, or 13.79 percent. 2010-07-02/en/2010/0702/935.html
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The SAFE recently released the preliminary data on China's Balance of Payments Statement for the second quarter and the first half of 2010. The current account and the capital and financial account posted a "twin surplus" in Q2 of 2010, and international reserves maintained their growing momentum. During the same period, the surplus under the current account totaled USD70.5 billion, an increase of 30 percent year on year. Specifically, according to the statistical coverage of the balance of payments, the surpluses in goods, income, and current transfers reached USD59.5 billion, USD7.2 billion, and USD9.9 billion, respectively, whereas the deficit in the services trade amounted to USD6.1 billion. Meanwhile, during this year China's surplus under the capital and financial account (including net errors and omissions) totaled USD11.5 billion. Specifically, the net inflows of foreign exchange by foreign direct investments amounted to USD21 billion. International reserves assets posted an increase of USD82.1 billion, a drop of 17 percent year on year calculated on a comparable basis. Specifically, foreign exchange reserve assets registered an increase of USD81.1 billion (exclusive of the influence of non-transaction value change factors, such as exchange rates, prices, etc.), and the reserve position in the IMF registered an increase of USD900 million. In the first half of 2010, China's surplus under the current account totaled USD124.2 billion, a decrease of 8 percent year on year. The share of the surplus under the current account in GDP was 4.9 percent, a decrease of 1.3 percentage points as compared with the same period of the last year. Meanwhile, China's surplus under the capital and financial account this year totaled USD 53.9 billion (including net errors and omissions). International reserve assets posted an increase of USD178 billion, a rise of 8 percent year on year. Balance of Payments1 (Preliminary Data) Q2 and H1, 2010 Unit: USD 100 million Items # Q2, 20102 H1, 20103 I. Current Account 1 705 1,242 A. Goods and Services 2 534 764 a. Goods 3 595 897 Credit 4 3896 7,063 Debit 5 3302 6,166 b. Services 6 -61 -133 B. Income 7 72 283 C. Current Transfers 8 99 194 II. Capital and Financial Account4 9 115 539 Incl.: Direct investment 10 210 365 III. Reserves Assets 11 -821 -1,780 3.1 Monetary Gold 12 0 0 3.2 Special Drawing Rights 13 0 -1 3.3 Reserves Position in the Fund 14 -9 -9 3.4 Foreign Exchange 15 -811 -1,770 3.5 Other Claims 16 0 0 Notes: 1. This statement employs rounded-off numbers. Some aggregate data may be not equal to the accumulation of the correspondent subentries. 2. The preliminary data of the BOP statement for Q2 of 2010 is prepared based on the single quarter. 3. The preliminary data of this statement for H1 of 2010 is the sum total of the revised data for Q1 of 2010 and the preliminary data for Q2 of 2010. 4. The data under the capital and financial accounts in this statement is the balance between Current Account Balance and the amount of change in reserve assets, including net errors and omissions. 2010-08-19/en/2010/0819/949.html
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For the purpose of enhancing the timeliness of the release of the data of the balance of payments statement, the SAFE recently released preliminary data of China's Balance of Payments statement for the first half of 2009. The current account and the capital and financial account posted a "twin surplus" in the first half of 2009, and international reserves maintained a growing momentum. In the first half of 2009, China's surplus under the current account totaled USD 130 billion, a decrease of 32% year on year. Specifically, according to the statistical coverage of the balance of payments, the surpluses under the trade in goods, income, and current transfers reached USD 118.3 billion, USD 16 billion, and USD 14.3 billion respectively, whereas the deficit in services amounted to USD 18.6 billion. Meanwhile, China's surplus under the capital and financial account totaled USD 33.1 billion, a drop of 54% year on year. In particular, the net inflows of direct investments and portfolio investments amounted to USD 20.6 billion and USD 16.9 billion respectively, whereas the net outflows of other investments reached USD 5.6 billion. Furthermore, China's international reserves continued to grow. At the end of the first half of 2009, China registered a total of USD 2131.6 billion in foreign exchange reserves, an increase of USD 185.6 billion over that at the end of 2008. The SAFE will formally release China's Balance of Payments Statement for the first half of 2009 during the September-October period. (End). Balance of Payments*(Preliminary Data) First Half of 2009 US dollars (thousands) Items Line Balance I. Current Account 1 129,985,896 A. Goods and Services 2 99,695,010 a. Goods 3 118,332,904 Credit 4 521,698,519 Debit 5 403,365,615 b. Services 6 -18,637,895 B. Income 7 15,953,349 C. Current Transfers 8 14,337,537 II. Capital and Financial Account 9 33,141,071 A. Capital Account 10 1,253,915 B. Financial Account 11 31,887,156 1. Direct Investment 12 20,572,107 2. Portfolio Investment 13 16,924,372 3. Other Investment 14 -5,609,323 III. Reserves Assets 15 -185,941,174 3.1 Monetary Gold 16 0 3.2 Special Drawing Rights 17 -28,637 3.3 Reserves Position in the Fund 18 -336,537 3.4 Foreign Exchange 19 -185,576,000 3.5 Other Claims 20 0 IV. Net Errors and Omissions 21 22,814,207 2009-09-02/en/2009/0902/898.html
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For the purposes of adapting to the developments and changes in the business of foreign-related receipts and payments conducted by domestic financial institutions and of improving the BOP statistical declarations, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) has recently issued the Operating Rules for the Balance of Payments Statistical Declarations through Financial Institutions (hereinafter referred to as Operating Rules), which shall supersede the previous trial version of the Operating Rules. These Operating Rules shall go into effect as of the date of promulgation. As compared with the previous trial version, the new Operating Rules mainly include the following adjustments: First, the receipts and payments between domestic residents and domestic non-residents via domestic banks have been incorporated into the statistical scope of foreign-related receipts and payments; second, the threshold for foreign-related personal income declarations has been raised from USD2,000 to USD3,000; third, the online reporting procedures for the foreign-related income of institutions have been clarified to facilitate the reporting of the declared entities in a timely manner; fourth, the filing and retention requirements for foreign-related receipts and payments of domestic banks have been adjusted; fifth, with respect to entities that fail to report in due course, special treatment measures shall be taken, under which payments will be refused in cases of unfulfilled reporting. These Operating Rules feature both convenience and high efficiency. Implementation of these Operating Rules is expected to reduce the administrative costs for both the banks and the declaring entities, and to make Chinas balance of payments statistical declarations more timely, accurate, and complete. 2010-06-08/en/2010/0608/934.html
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In recent years, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) has made great efforts to sort out the existing laws and regulations and in six batches has nullified 275 laws and regulations. Based on these achievements, the SAFE recently issued the Catalogue of the Major Currently Valid Laws and Regulations on Foreign Exchange Administration (as of the end of June 2010) (hereinafter referred to as the Catalogue). The Catalogue incorporates a total of 496 foreign exchange administration policies and regulations, including 5 administrative laws and regulations, 19 departmental rules, and 472 normative documents. The laws and regulations incorporated in the Catalogue are all in effect, wholly or mostly, including the administrative circulars and replies that the SAFE issued independently or in conjunction with other relevant authorities, relevant foreign exchange policies issued by the Peoples Bank of China, and judicial interpretations of the Supreme Peoples Court on foreign exchange administration. The Catalogue consists of nine major items, including general foreign exchange business, foreign exchange business under the current account, foreign exchange business under the capital account, foreign exchange business of financial institutions, the RMB exchange rate and the foreign exchange market, and the balance of payments statistics, which, in order to facilitate public inquiries, are further divided into some sub-items based on the specific types of business. The SAFE will further deepen the sorting out of existing laws and regulations, review and update the Catalogue, and constantly improve the transparency of related policies in a bid to facilitate the understanding and use of the foreign exchange laws and regulations by banks, enterprises, and individuals. 2010-07-13/en/2010/0713/940.html
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The SAFE recently released the revised data on China's Balance of Payments Statement for Q1 of 2010. The statistics reveal that the current account and the capital and financial account continued to post a "twin surplus" in Q1 of 2010. In Q1 of 2010, China's surplus under the current account totaled USD53.6 billion, a decrease of 32 percent year on year. Specifically, according to the statistical coverage of the balance of payments, the surplus in goods, income, and current transfers reached USD30.3 billion, USD21.1 billion, and USD9.5 billion, respectively, whereas the deficit in services amounted to USD7.2 billion. Meanwhile, the surplus under the capital and financial account totaled USD64.2 billion in Q1 of 2010, compared to a deficit of USD12.8 billion posted during the same period of 2009. In particular, net inflows of direct investments and portfolio investments amounted to USD15.5 billion and USD2.2 billion respectively, whereas net inflows of other investments reached USD45.4 billion. China's international reserve assets posted an increase of USD96 billion. Specifically, foreign exchange reserve assets registered a net increase of USD95.9 billion (exclusive of changes in the value of non-transaction factors such as exchange rates and prices), and special drawing rights posted an increase of USD100 million. 2010-07-05/en/2010/0705/937.html
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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 branches in Shenzhen, Dalian , Qingdao , Xiamen , and Ningbo ; and all designated Chinese-funded foreign exchange banks: In order to prevent financial risks caused by cross-border flows of capital, issues related to the strengthening of the administration of foreign exchange operations are hereby notified as follows: 1. Strengthen administration of the banks comprehensive positions in the settlement and sales of foreign exchange. Implement a minimum level of management of the banks balance of positions calculated on a cash basis based on the current management of the comprehensive position limits for foreign exchange settlement and sales. The lower limit of the position shall be the position of the day on a cash basisas presented in the Daily Statement of the Comprehensive Position of Foreign Exchange Settlement and Sales issued by each bank on November 8, 2010. 2. Tighten administration of online inspections of foreign exchange collections and settlement for exports. Abrogate the provision that In the event that the enterprise has an insufficient balance of foreign exchange receivables due to a delay in the transmission of data on exports, the banks may, on the strength of the letter of commitment submitted by the enterprise, settle or transfer the funds in the accounts to be verified.The banks shall, in light of the limits on the balance of foreign exchange receivables, settle or transfer the funds in the accounts to be verified. The proportion of foreign exchange collection from the processing of imported materials shall be uniformly reduced from 30 percent to 20 percent. In the event that the proportion of the actual collection of foreign exchange for customs declaration for a single batch of exported goods under trade for the processing of imported materials exceeds 20 percent, the banks shall handle the relevant business in accordance with the existing regulations on foreign exchange collection for the processing of imported materials with the proportion of exchange collected in excess of the prescribed limit. 3. Strengthen administration of the quotas on short-term external debts and the balance of external guarantees of financial institutions. In the event that banks conduct agency payments abroad for the business subsequent to the issuance of L/Cs to their customers and the total time limit of both payments exceeds 90 days, the amount under the agency payment abroad shall be incorporated into the quota control of the short-term external debt. The foreign exchange authorities shall monitor and provide early warnings about the circumstances, such as the banksborrowing of short-term external debt and the provision of external guarantees for financing in violation of the regulations, and shall impose tight restrictions on bank operations in excess of the quotas. 4. Strengthen administration of capital contributions by overseas investors of foreign-funded enterprises. In the event that the actual payer is inconsistent with the overseas investor of a foreign-funded enterprise, the foreign-funded enterprise shall submit a notarized certification of the proxy contribution when entrusting an accounting firm to consult the foreign exchange authorities for capital verification. 5. Strengthen examination of the authenticity of the settlement of funds repatriated as capital raised from overseas listings in accordance with the requirements for foreign exchange settlements for payments. The materials certifying authenticity shall be examined in accordance with the relevant regulations on foreign exchange administration for the settlement of capital funds in foreign exchange for foreign-funded enterprises. The foreign exchange settlement shall be conducted in compliance with the purposes specified in the prospectus; for any amount that exceeds the planned limit on fund raising or goes beyond the purposes stated in the prospectus, a board resolution concerning the purposes of the foreign exchange settlement shall be submitted. The foreign exchange that is to be settled and paid to the other party in the transaction shall not be settled and deposited in the Renminbi account of the enterprise. 6. Strengthen administration of overseas incorporations of companies with special purposes by domestic institutions and individuals, and impose penalties on enterprises and individuals operating in violation of the regulations. 7. Impose penalties on banks operating in violation of the regulations by complying strictly with the law. Banks shall strengthen verification and examination of the authenticity of transactions by their customers and the consistency of foreign exchange receipts and payments. For those bank operations in violation of the foreign exchange regulations that result in illegal inflows of funds, the foreign exchange authorities shall impose penalties in the form of fines, termination of relevant operations, circulation of notices of criticism, and so forth, and shall investigate the responsibilities of the senior management staff who are directly liable for the violations. This Circular shall come into effect as of the date of promulgation. All the branches and administrative departments of the SAFE shall, after receipt of this Circular, forward it as soon as possible to the central sub-branches, sub-branches, and banks within their jurisdictions. All Chinese-funded designated foreign exchange banks shall, after receipt of this Circular, forward it to their branches and sub-branches as soon as possible. If any problems arise in the implementation of this Circular, please report them to the SAFE in a timely manner. Tel.: 010-68402295, 68402450, 68402366 2010-11-09/en/2010/1109/966.html
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At the end of March 2011, China's outstanding external debt (excluding that of Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR, and Taiwan Province) reached USD585.97 billion. Specifically, the outstanding registered external debt reached USD366.87 billion and the balance of trade credit totaled USD219.1 billion. With respect to the term structure, the outstanding long- and medium-term external debt (with the remaining term) was USD174.32 billion, accounting for 29.75 percent of the total outstanding external debt. The outstanding short-term external debt (with the remaining term) was USD411.65 billion, accounting for 70.25 percent of the outstanding external debt. Specifically, the outstanding registered short-term external debt (with the remaining term) was USD192.55 billion and the balance of trade credit was USD219.1 billion. In terms of the composition of the short-term external debt, at the end of March 2011 the balance of trade-related credit was USD311.45 billion, accounting for 76 percent of the outstanding short-term external debt (with the remaining term). Specifically, the trade credit and trade financing accounted for 53 percent and 23 percent respectively. As the trade-related credit is based on the real import and export trade, all external payments are conducted under the item of trade and do not constitute additional payments. The growth of such payments is basically consistent with that of the import and export trade in China; therefore, the increase in the proportion of this short-term external debt will not affect the security of Chinas external debt. In terms of types of debtors, the outstanding debt of Chinese-funded financial institutions was USD156.266 billion, accounting for 42.59 percent of the outstanding registered external debt; the outstanding debt of foreign-funded enterprises was USD114.929 billion, accounting for 31.33 percent; the outstanding debt of foreign-funded financial institutions was USD50.539 billion, accounting for 13.78 percent; the outstanding sovereign debt borrowed by ministries under the State Council was USD39.161 billion, accounting for 10.67 percent; the outstanding debt of Chinese-funded enterprises was USD5.844 billion, accounting for 1.59 percent; and the outstanding debt of other institutions was USD131 million, accounting for 0.04 percent. In terms of the types of debts, the balance of international commercial loans amounted to USD299.023 billion, accounting for 81.51 percent of the outstanding registered external debt, representing an increase of 1.53 percentage points from that at the end of 2010. The balance of foreign government loans and loans granted by international financial organizations amounted to USD67.847 billion, accounting for 18.49 percent. In terms of the currency structure, the debt in U.S. dollars accounted for 68.3 percent of the outstanding registered external debt, representing a decline of 2.11 percentage points compared with that at the end of 2010. Debt in Japanese yen accounted for 7.68 percent, representing a decline of 0.88 percentage point compared with that at the end of 2010. Debt in euro accounted for 4 percent, representing a decline of 0.41 percentage point compared with that at the end of 2010. Other kinds of debts, including SDRs and HKD, accounted for 20.02 percent, a rise of 3.4 percentage points compared with that at the end of 2010. In terms of the sectoral distribution with reference to the Industrial Classifications of the National Economy, USD47.841 billion was invested in the manufacturing sector, accounting for 23.01 percent of the medium- and long-term outstanding registered external debt (based on contract terms); USD26.261 billion was invested in the communications and transportation sector, the warehousing sector, and the postal-services sector, accounting for 12.63 percent of the total; USD17.356 billion was invested in the production and supply of electricity, coal gas, and water, accounting for 8.35 percent; USD8.142 billion was invested in the information technology services sector, accounting for 3.92 percent; and USD10.594 billion was channeled to the real estate sector, accounting for 5.1 percent. From January to March 2011, the medium- and long-term external debt totaled USD14.099 billion, a year-on-year increase of USD5.948, or 72.97 percent. The principal repayment was USD4.599 billion, a year-on-year decrease of USD1.035 billion, or 18.37 percent. The interest payment was USD460 million, a year-on-year decrease of USD234 million, or 33.71 percent. 2011-07-07/en/2011/0707/1002.html
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In order to further improve foreign exchange management of the capital account, simplify the procedures for administrative examination and approval, and promote the facilitation of trade and investment, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (The SAFE) recently issued the Circular of the SAFE on Cancellation or Adjustments of Certain Approval Authorities and Administrative Measures for Foreign Exchange Business under the Capital Account (HuiFa No. 20 [2011], hereinafter referred to as the Circular). The Circular will come into effect as of June 1, 2011. The Circular mainly stipulates the following: First, it cancels the registration and approval of overdue deferred payments in the management of trade-credit registration. Where an enterprise registers to withdraw deferred payments within 120 days (inclusive) upon the issuance of the import customs declaration by customs, it is unnecessary to undergo the overdue registration and approval formalities at the local foreign exchange authority. Second, the Circular cancels the examination and approval for the return of foreign exchange under advance payments in the management of trade-credit registration. When foreign exchange from the advance payments of an enterprise is returned, the enterprise can directly log into the Trade- Credit Registration Management System to go through the cancellation procedures, as well as to go through the formalities to enter the returned funds into the account in accordance with the relevant regulations on foreign exchange administration of the current account. Third, the designated foreign exchange banks can directly handle the procedures for when foreign exchange obtained through a reduction in state-owned shares in overseas listed companies is transferred to the national social security fund and put on file. Fourth, the branches and foreign exchange administrative departments of the SAFE are authorized to check and ratify the quota for the balance of external financing guarantees (excluding those explicitly stipulated to be ratified by the SAFE) for the designated foreign exchange banks registered within their jurisdictions in accordance with the current regulations on the administration of external guarantees. Fifth, the base ratio for advance payments of goods under trade credit is increased from 30 percent to 50 percent. This policy adjustment will help enterprises reduce costs and enhance efficiency. While vigorously simplifying the ex-ante approval procedures, the SAFE will also increase efforts to conduct off-site inspections and to carry out ex-post supervision, constantly improving foreign exchange administration of the capital account and steadily advancing the convertibility of the RMB under the capital account. 2011-05-27/en/2011/0527/998.html
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The SAFE recently released China's International Investment Position for year-end 2010. The statistics reveal that at the end of 2011 China's external financial assets reached USD4126 billion, up 19 percent over that at the end of 2009; external financial liabilities reached USD2335.4 billion, up 20 percent over that at the end of 2009; and external financial net assets reached USD1790.7 billion, up 19 percent over that at the end of 2009. Among the external financial assets, direct investments abroad totaled USD310.8 billion, portfolio investments totaled USD257.1 billion, other investments totaled USD643.9 billion, and reserves assets totaled USD2914.2 billion, accounting for 7 percent, 6 percent, 16 percent, and 71 percent respectively of the external financial assets. In terms of external financial liabilities, foreign direct investments totaled USD1476.4 billion, portfolio investments totaled USD221.6 billion, and other investments totaled USD637.3 billion, accounting for 63 percent, 10 percent, and 27 percent respectively of external financial liabilities. The International Investment Position (hereinafter referred to as the IIP) is a statistical statement reflecting the stocks of financial assets and liabilities of one country or region to other countries or regions in the world at one specific point; together with the Balance of Payments Statement (BOP Statement) it constitutes the complete international accounts system, indicating the trade flows of the country or region. The SAFE revised its IIP for year-end 2009 according to the latest data. FILE: China's International Investment Position 2011-05-30/en/2011/0530/999.html