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In general, the Compulsory Foreign Exchange Settlement and Sales System refers to the administrative arrangement whereby the foreign exchange income obtained by residents shall be sold to financial institutions designated by the State and foreign exchange to be utilized shall be purchased from financial institutions designated by the State. Residents do not have autonomy to keep and utilize the foreign exchange. The System is mostly adopted by economies with a shortage of foreign exchange resources. During the planned economy period, due to the shortage of foreign exchange, China implemented strict mandatory planning management of foreign exchange receipts and payments. Since the reform and opening up, in order to adapt to the requirements for China to establish a socialist market economy system, the reform of the foreign exchange administration system has been advanced in an orderly fashion, the residents’ autonomy to utilize foreign exchange has steadily expanded, and the levels of trade facilitation and investment have continuously improved. In January 1994, China cancelled the examination and approval procedures for foreign exchange utilization plans under the current account, such as enterprise imports, and began to allow enterprises to directly purchase foreign exchange from designated foreign exchange banks upon the strength of valid documents. In December 1996, China announced realization of current account convertibility and lifted restrictions on overseas payments and transfers under the current account; however, foreign exchange from such sources as the export income of the enterprises, in principal, still had to be sold to the designated foreign exchange banks. Since entry into the WTO, China ’s foreign economy has developed rapidly, and the principal contradiction in its balance of payments gradually changed from the past shortage of foreign exchange to a rapid increase in foreign exchange reserves. From 2002 to 2011, China ’s foreign exchange reserves increased by nearly USD 300 billion annually, 12 times the annual increment from 1994 to 2001. Conforming to the change in the situation and the actual requirements of the market players, from 2001, by improving management of the opening of foreign exchange accounts and management on the basis of limits, China has gradually expanded the autonomy of enterprises to retain foreign exchange. First, it relaxed the conditions for enterprises to open foreign exchange accounts and to retain foreign exchange. In 2001, enterprises which satisfied such conditions as the foreign exchange receipts from exports during the year were above the equivalent of USD 2 million and the foreign exchange payments of the year were above the equivalent of USD 0.2 million began to be allowed to open foreign exchange settlement accounts to retain their foreign exchange income from such matters as goods exports and trade in services within certain limits, subject to the approval of the foreign exchange authorities. In 2002, the restrictions on the conditions for account opening were lifted, and all enterprises with foreign trade operation rights or foreign exchange revenue under the current account were allowed to open foreign exchange accounts under the current account upon the approval of the foreign exchange authorities. In 2006, the ex-ante approval procedures for account opening were cancelled, and the enterprises may now open foreign exchange accounts under the current account directly with the banks without the approval of the foreign exchange authorities. Second, it raised the limit on the foreign exchange allowed to be retained in foreign exchange accounts. In 2002, the limit was 20 percent of the enterprises’ foreign exchange revenue under the current account during the last year. In 2004, the limit was raised to 30 percent or 50 percent. In 2005, the limit was further raised to 50 percent or 80 percent. In 2006, the original method whereby the limit was ratified only on the basis of the revenue that was changed, the limit was ratified on the basis of the sum of 80 percent of the foreign exchange revenue under the current account and 50 percent of the foreign exchange payments under the current account of the enterprises during the last year, thus, further raising the limit of foreign exchange that may be retained by the enterprises. In 2007, management of the account on the basis of such limits was cancelled, and enterprises began to be allowed to the keep foreign exchange on their own based on their operating needs. In 2008, the amended Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Foreign expressly provided that the enterprises and individuals may retain the foreign exchange in accordance with the relevant provisions or sell the foreign exchange to the banks. Since 2009, in order to further promote facilitation of trade and investment and to improve policy transparency, the foreign exchange authorities have energetically carried out a cleaning-up of the regulations, and announced that a total of over 400 normative documents concerning foreign exchange administration were repealed and invalidated. It was announced that the normative documents concerning compulsory foreign exchange settlement and sales would be repealed, invalidated, or amended. At present, all the policies and regulations concerning compulsory foreign exchange settlement and sales are no longer in effect and are no longer implemented. Overall, the Compulsory Foreign Exchange Settlement and Sales System, as an administrative arrangement in the era of a shortage of foreign exchange, played an important role in supporting the development of the real economy and safeguarding the economic and financial security of China . As the foreign economy develops, the foreign exchange authorities have timely adjusted and abolished the Compulsory Foreign Exchange Settlement and Sales System, consistent with the concepts and purposes of foreign exchange administration keeping up with the times and serving the overall situation of economic development. In the future, foreign exchange administration will abide by the risk limits and further promote facilitation of trade and investment and actively serve the development of the real economy. 2012-06-07/en/2012/0607/1052.html
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We are an official institution under the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), responsible for China ’s foreign exchange reserve management. We are now looking for high caliber professionals who share our commitment to “professional, responsible and international” asset management to join us. Our Culture Composed of young, qualified and motivated staff from diversified academic backgrounds of finance, economics, engineering, maths, computer science, languages and human resources etc., we embrace “Dedication, Discipline, Enterprise and Cooperation” as our core value and we attach utmost importance to the safety, liquidity, diversification and return of reserve assets under our management. We value human capital as the most important resources and offer competitive reward incentives. Vacancies Currently, we have the job vacancies in our asset allocation group (Strategist and Macro economist), external managers group (Alternative Assets Investment and Management) and risk management group (Market risk and Legal affairs), based in Beijing headquarter. Basic requirements 1. Masters or above degree from world renowned universities; 2. Relevant working experience with renowned financial institutions; 3. Good command of both Chinese and English as working language; 4. Computer proficiency; 5. Healthy; 6. Other criteria specific to the vacancies. Application procedures 1. Please visit the website of http://rmdhr.safe.gov.cn to submit your application. We ONLY receive the application through our website; 2. Application deadline: refer to the vacancy list; 3. Short-listed applicants will be invited to written test and interview after documentation screening; 4. New recruits will be required to sign Employment Contracts (with probation) in accordance with Chinese and local regulations. Contact Fax: 86-10-66213319 Email: HR@mail.rmd-safe.gov.cn (recommended) FILE: 2012 Experienced Professional Recruitment Program, Reserve Management Department, SAFE 2012-03-30/en/2012/0330/1041.html
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In the first half of 2011, the foreign exchange authorities maintained tough measures against hot money, investigated 1,865 cases involving violations of foreign exchange laws and regulations, and imposed relevant penalties of more than USD16 billion, an increase of 26.2 percent and 26.9 percent respectively over the same period of the last year. With respect to the current key channels and typical methods of inflows and settlement of illegal and irregular foreign exchange funds, the foreign exchange authorities have further improved inspection methods, comprehensively promoted the use of an off-site foreign exchange inspection system, implemented multi-dimensional monitoring of the foreign exchange receipts and payments of various market players, and continually improved the accuracy of cracking down on activities in violation of the foreign exchange laws and regulations. In the first half of 2011, the foreign exchange authorities in different localities carried out special inspections of over 80 items, investigated a number of major cases occurring in Guangdong , Shanghai , Jiangsu , Shandong , Guangxi, and Hainan , and imposed relevant penalties. During the inspections, the foreign exchange authorities strictly carried out law-based administration, adhered to implementing legal procedures and imposing appropriate penalties, as well as energetically facilitated the legitimate operations of enterprises. As for the investigations and penalties, the total amount of administrative penalties and confiscations imposed by the foreign exchange authorities in the first half of the year was RMB260 million, exceeding that for all of the last year (RMB243 million). Among the penalized activities in violation of the regulations on foreign exchange administration of financial institutions, the following activities are relatively common: exceeding the short-term external debt quota, handling foreign exchange settlement and sales in violation of the regulations on foreign exchange administration, handling receipts and payments under the capital account in violation of the regulations on foreign exchange administration, and failing to carry out reasonable examinations and verifications of the authenticity of the receipt and payment instruments under the current account. The former three irregular activities involved a total of USD9.27 billion, accounting for 57.9 percent of the entire amount involved. Among the penalized activities of enterprises in violation of the regulations on foreign exchange administration, the following are the most common: first, changing without approval the use of foreign exchange or the RMB funds from foreign exchange settlement, second, activities in violation of the regulations on external debt administration, and third, activities such as remitting foreign exchange to China in violation of the regulations on foreign exchange administration or illegal foreign exchange settlement. The above three irregular activities involved a total of USD2.51 billion, accounting for 15.7 percent of the entire amount involved. Facing the complicated economic situations both at home and abroad, the foreign exchange authorities will continue to rigorously crack down on irregular cross-border capital flows, with special focus on seriously combating the inflows of hot money, further improving inspection methods, and intensifying the investigation and punishment of major cases. Furthermore, the foreign exchange authorities will strengthen coordination and cooperation with the relevant regulatory authorities, give full play to the role of the relevant coordination mechanisms, and create a synergy for dealing with and cracking down on hot money. 2011-08-16/en/2011/0816/1010.html
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The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) recently held a briefing on foreign exchange inspections of financial institutions; the relevant persons-in-charge of 20 Chinese-funded banks, 9 foreign-funded banks, 3 insurance companies, and 2 finance companies attended the briefing. The briefing pointed out that in 2011 the foreign exchange authorities conscientiously implemented the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, firmly focused on the key channels for cross-border capital flows, i.e., financial institutions, specifically carried out multiple special inspections of foreign exchange businesses, rigorously cracked down on activities in violation of the foreign exchange laws and regulations, and guarded against the risks of unusual flows of foreign exchange funds. According to the results of the inspections, in terms of foreign exchange business, in general compliance was improving; however, there were still some financial institutions that emphasized business expansion but made light of lawful operations and carried out some irregular activities. The briefing circulated information on the irregular activities in the foreign exchange business of financial institutions, mainly including that some banks, in handling business of behalf of clients, failed to carry out their responsibility of conducting examinations of the authenticity of the business, handled foreign exchange settlement of capital and individual foreign exchange settlement and sales in violation of the regulations on foreign exchange administration, violated the provisions on the administration of foreign exchange accounts and external guarantees, and failed to handle the receipts and payments of funds under the current account and the capital account in accordance with the applicable provisions; that some banks, upon handling their own foreign exchange business, violated the provisions on foreign exchange administration in such areas as external debt, the synthetic positions concerning foreign exchange settlement and sales, market access and the filing of the foreign exchange business, and gold lending; that some non-bank financial institutions violated the provisions on foreign exchange administration in such areas as external debt, foreign exchange settlement and sales, external guarantees, foreign exchange accounts, and market access to foreign exchange business. In addition, there are some banks that maintained high foreign exchange loan-to-deposit ratios, whose off-balance sheet business innovations evaded supervision and whose domestic and overseas business, were coordinated to engage in arbitrage. The briefing mandating that financial institutions enhance macro awareness and awareness of the overall situation , conscientiously establish the idea of sound operations and scientific development, correctly deal with the relationship between self-interest and national interest, between short-term interest and long-term interest, between business development and lawful operations, and between internal management and external supervision, actively assume their social responsibilities, and strictly comply with the foreign exchange administration policies. The briefing stressed that in 2012 the foreign exchange authorities will, in accordance with the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, continue to earnestly perform their supervisory responsibilities, maintain the risk limits, further expand the scope of inspections of financial institutions, increase the frequency of the inspections, increase efforts to disclose information on irregular activities, guard against the risks of unusual flows of foreign exchange funds, and effectively safeguard the economic and financial security of China. 2012-05-15/en/2012/0515/1046.html
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In 2011, in the face of the complicated economic and financial situations both at home and abroad, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) actively implemented the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, emphasizing priorities, improving methods, and rigorously cracking down on cross-border flows of hot money. In 2011 the results of the phase of cracking down on hot money were achieved, with a total of 3,488 cases of activities in violation of the regulations on foreign exchange administration handled and investigated, with the amount of penalties and confiscations reaching RMB 503 million, more than twice the amount of the last year. In 2011 the SAFE’s main tasks in cracking down on hot money included: First, striking a heavy blow, investigating, and handling major cases of activities in violation of the laws on foreign exchange administration in key areas. In 2011, seventeen major typical case involving a huge amount of money were investigated and punished; and cross-regional operations and irregular capital inflows to the real estate and financial markets, involving RMB 19.3 billion, and administrative penalties were imposed in eight such cases and fines were collected in the amount of RMB 187 million. Second, jointly handling and investigating the cases, rigorously cracking down on illegal and criminal activities with respect to foreign exchange, such as illegal banks. As of the end of November 2011, the SAFE and the public security departments had jointly exposed eighteen cases involving illegal banks, twenty cases involving the illegal sale and purchase of foreign exchange, and one case involving online foreign exchange speculation in the amount of RMB 71.7 billion, with 198 suspects caught red-handed and64 suspects thereof being prosecuted. The number of cases exposed and the number of suspects apprehended hit a record high. Third, emphasizing priorities. The SAFE, with a focus on financial institutions and large-scale enterprises, carried out special inspections in the areas of foreign exchange settlement of capital and short-term external debt, and rigorously punished enterprises, financial institutions, and individuals that borrowed external debt and carried out foreign exchange settlement in violation of the regulations on foreign exchange administration. In 2012 the SAFE will abide by the risk limits, construct a system and mechanism for protection against the impact of cross-border capital flows, strictly implement law-based administration, further improve the methods and means of foreign exchange inspections, rigorously crack down on various activities in violation of the foreign exchange laws and regulations, guard against the risks of unusual flows of foreign exchange funds, and safeguard the economic and financial security of China. 2012-03-26/en/2012/0326/1036.html
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Recently, in order to actively carry out the work related to the pilot program of domestic securities investments by RMB qualified foreign institutional investors (hereinafter referred to as the “RQFII”), in accordance with the Measures for the Pilot Program of Domestic Securities Investments by Fund Management Companies and Securities Companies as RMB Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (Decree No. 76 of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the People’s Bank of China, and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange) and the Circular of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Relevant Issues Concerning the Pilot Program of Domestic Securities Investments by Fund Management Companies and Securities Companies as RMB Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (HuiFa No.50 [2011]), the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) convened a meeting on the investment quota of qualified institutional investors in order to review such matters as the allocation of the quota of domestic securities investments by RQFII. The meeting discussed and adopted the basic principles for the allocation of the quota for domestic securities investments by RQFIIs, i.e., approximately equal allocations between fund-based and securities-based RQFIIs, and relative control of the scale of private equity products. This time, a total investment quota of RMB 10.7 billion for the RQFIIs (see the Annex) was approved for 10 RQFIIs that had submitted their complete application materials through the trustee banks. The SAFE will continue, in a timely manner, accepting applications for investment quotas submitted by qualified RQFIIs, and will examine and approve the applications in accordance with uniform rules and procedures. FILE: attachment：download 2012-03-26/en/2012/0326/1034.html
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In the first half of 2011 , the foreign exchange administrative departments and the public security organs worked closely to launch a series of special campaigns to crack down on illegal cross-border fund flows in Guangdong, Fujian, Shenzhen, and other provinces and cities, uncovering 10 cases of underground money shops and online speculation in foreign exchange involving a total amount of over RMB10 billion, destroying 16 illegal trading nests, arresting 37 foreign exchange criminal suspects, collecting cash equivalent to RMB5.3 million, freezing 200-odd bank cards and passbook accounts with capital equivalent to RMB13 million, and seizing a number of tools for committing crimes, such as cars and computers. These campaigns effectively cracked down on underground money shops and other foreign exchange-related illegal activities and played a significant role in containing irregular flows of cross-border funds and deterring inflows of “hot money.” During the next stage, based on the principle of “simultaneous dredging and blocking,” the SAFE will coordinate with the public security organs and other relevant departments to maintain the tough measures to combat the underground money shops and other crimes and to step up the extended checkup of the sources and directions of upstream and downstream funds to these shops so as to curb the space for such criminal activities. 2011-08-27/en/2011/0827/1012.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 SAFE branches in Shenzhen, Dalian, Qingdao, Xiamen, and Ningbo, all Chinese-funded designated foreign exchange banks and the China Foreign Exchange Trade System: In the early morning of April 14, 2010, a severe earthquake hit Yushu county in Yushu Tibetan Autonomous prefecture of Qinghai province, which resulted in heavy casualties and huge property losses. To enhance policy support in terms of foreign exchange administration to fight the quake and to carry out relief work, this emergency circular is hereby promulgated as follows: I. The branches and foreign exchange administration departments under the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (hereinafter referred to as SAFE branches) shall make all-out efforts to fight the earthquake and to carry out relief work by implementing the overall requirements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council on fighting the earthquake and carrying out relief work and complying with the uniform planning of the Party Committees of the Peoples Bank of China in their respective localities. The chief persons-in-charge of the SAFE branches shall serve as the primary duty officers for fighting the earthquake and for carrying out the relief work, and they shall take full responsibility for implementing the relevant tasks within their jurisdictions. The job responsibility system for fighting the earthquake and carrying out relief work shall be implemented in all respects and at all levels. II. The SAFE branches shall establish Green Channels for fighting the quake, carrying out relief work, and implementing post-disaster reconstruction. All kinds of foreign exchange services work shall be earnestly fulfilled. 1. Efforts shall be made to facilitate timely provision of donations for fighting the earthquake and carrying out relief work. When receiving donations for disaster relief from overseas countries or regions, government departments above the county level (inclusive) in Qinghai province and legally-established domestic NGOs are allowed to complete the procedures for account entry and settlement of the foreign exchange funds (including foreign currencies in cash), provided that it is explicitly noted in the transaction remarks that the funds are to be used for fighting the earthquake and carrying out relief work, or that a written explanation is provided by the organizations that have received the fund. Nevertheless, the funds shall not be deposited in accounts other than the foreign exchange accounts for receiving donations. Foreign exchange funds in the foreign exchange accounts of domestic institutions or personal accounts under the current account can be transferred directly to the foreign exchange donation accounts for fighting the quake and carrying out relief work. If there is a need to settle the exchange before remitting the relevant funds to the foreign exchange donation accounts, the existing policies on the administration of foreign exchange accounts under the current account as well as on the personal foreign exchange accounts shall be implemented. During the disaster relief period, domestic enterprises registered in Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture may, while receiving overseas foreign exchange donations for earthquake relief and post-disaster reconstruction for the affected enterprises, complete the procedures for account entry and settlement of the foreign exchange funds directly at the banks based on the validity of the application letters. With respect to overseas funds which are donated via domestic enterprises to domestic legally-established NGOs and are to be used for earthquake relief and post-disaster reconstruction in Yushu county, the domestic enterprises can proceed with the account entry formalities based on the validity of the donation agreement which specifies the purposes of the funds, and can transfer such funds to the relevant NGOs. The donated foreign exchange funds must be used for earthquake relief and post-disaster reconstruction work and conform to Chinese laws, regulations, and other relevant provisions. All donation recipients shall carefully keep proof of the expenditures of the foreign exchange donations for future inspection. 2. For the remittance of donations with the payee being domestic government departments or legally-established NGOs, the relevant procedures for the pre-settlement of exchange and remittances of funds can be handled by qualified overseas branches of the Bank of China, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and the China Construction Bank. 3. During the period for fighting the earthquake and carrying out relief work, banks are allowed to make statistical declarations of the balance of payments (hereinafter referred to as the declaration) for the quake-fighting and relief funds remitted from overseas countries or regions that have been received by government departments and NGOs, such as the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Head Office of the Red Cross Society of China, the China Charity Federation, the China Environmental Protection Foundation, the China Children and TeenagersFund, and the China Association for NGO Cooperation. The declaration banks shall transmit the relevant information in a timely manner to the local administrations of foreign exchange, and shall sign and keep in safety the declaration agreements with the aforementioned special entities prior to handling the relevant declarations. 4. The short-term external debt quotas shall be increased in an appropriate manner for Qinghai province in 2010. Chinese-funded enterprises within the jurisdiction of the Qinghai Provincial Government will be allowed to borrow short-term external debts within the ratified quotas. 5. After consultation with the China Foreign Exchange Trading System, it has been decided that all transactional terminal fees, transaction fees, and settlement fees arising from transactions on the inter-bank foreign exchange market for corporate financial institutions of Qinghai province will be exempted for the full amount for the year 2010. The foregoing temporary measures adopted during the period of fighting the earthquake and carrying out relief work shall remain in effect for one year. III. The SAFE branches shall, in compliance with overall planning, keep a close eye on the operational condition of the networks and foreign exchange business systems within their jurisdictions and enhance the monitoring of the networks and systems so as to ensure the stable operation of the networks and foreign exchange business systems as well as the smooth implementation of various business tasks. IV. The SAFE branches shall further enhance emergency duties and information submissions, carry out earnestly the 24-hour duty system, and ensure the smooth transmission of government orders. Information about fighting the earthquake and carrying out relief work shall be submitted uniformly to the General Affairs Department of the SAFE (duty room) and the relevant departments. V. The SAFE branches shall, in compliance with overall planning, carry out the Love Contribution donation activities in an orderly manner, vigorously support the post-disaster reconstruction of the quake-hit areas, fully carry forward the spirit of devoting collaborated efforts to assisting those suffering from disasters, and give strong support to reconstruction work through conscientious efforts. 2010-04-20/en/2010/0420/927.html
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A working conference of the People's Bank of China (PBOC), in conjunction with the national foreign exchange administration conference, was recently held in Kunming, Yunnan province. The conference studied and conveyed the gist of the results of Third Plenary Session of the Seventeenth Central Committee of the CPC, the Fourth Plenary Session of the Seventeenth Central Committee of the CPC, as well as the Central Economic Work Conference. The proceedings provided an overall summary of work related to foreign exchange administration in 2009 and set forth the tasks for foreign exchange administration in 2010 based on an in-depth analysis of current circumstances regarding the balance of payments and receipts and payments of foreign exchange. Yi Gang, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China and administrator of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), delivered a speech at the conference on foreign exchange administration work. Deng Xianhong, Fang Shangpu, Wang Xiaoyi, Li Chao, and other leaders of the SAFE, along with the relevant leaders of the divisions, overseas offices, and branches (foreign exchange administration departments) of the SAFE attended the conference. It was pointed out at the conference that in 2009, under the wise leadership of the Party Central Committee and the State Council and the precise guidance of the Party Committee of the PBOC, all foreign exchange administration departments carried out the scientific outlook on development in an all-around manner and earnestly implemented the overall planning of the Central Government on "Sustaining growth, accelerating restructuring, propelling reform, and improving the people's livelihood.In order to sustain the stable development of the foreign-related economy, efforts were made to adjust the direction and emphasis of foreign exchange administration in a timely manner by launching a series of measures to cope with the international financial crisis. The SAFE made efforts to further deepen the reform of the foreign exchange administration system, enhance the role of foreign exchange administration services to satisfy the needs of economic development, improve statistics and supervision of cross-border capital flows, guard against risks caused by abnormal cross-border capital flows, promote disclosure of information and government affairs, and increase the transparency of foreign exchange administration. Efforts were also made to improve the operation and management of foreign exchange reserves, to guarantee the security of foreign exchange reserve assets, and to obtain reasonable returns. All of these measures have played an active role in weathering the global financial crisis as well as in promoting the stable and rapid development of the national economy. It was emphasized at the conference that since the initiation of the reform and opening-up policy China has been active in becoming integrated in the economic globalization. Development of the foreign-related economy was achieved by leaps and bounds, along with a dramatic increase in cross-border foreign exchange receipts and payments. The constantly changing scale, frequency, and form of cross-border capital flows, rapid economic development, and increased opening to the outside world have presented increasing challenges to our countrys foreign exchange administration. Such circumstances require that the foreign exchange administration departments look at issues concerning Chinas economic and financial development from a global perspective, analyze Chinas foreign exchange administration within the framework of an open economy, and enhance the fundamental role of market forces in allocating foreign exchange resources. To this end, all personnel in the foreign exchange administration system should further carry out the scientific outlook on development, put into practice the gist of the contents of the Third Plenary Session of the Seventeenth Central Committee of the CPC, the Fourth Plenary Session of the Seventeenth Central Committee of the CPC, and the Central Economic Work Conference in an all-around manner, consolidate our conviction and work pragmatically to further strengthen and improve foreign exchange administration work, make great efforts to improve the status of the balance of payments, and promote a basic equilibrium in the balance of payments. These efforts should be conducted in compliance with the strategic planning of the Party Central Committee and the State Council to sustain the stable and rapid development of the national economy, so as to serve the comprehensive strategic aim of transforming the pattern of economic development and accelerating economic restructuring. The conference also studied and set the priorities for foreign exchange administration in 2010. These include: (1) Further emancipating our minds, upgrading concepts for foreign exchange administration, transforming administration methods, and enhancing a service consciousness; keeping risks controllable and as much as possible facilitating the operations of economic entities, gradually weakening ex-ante examination and approval, and strengthening ex-post monitoring and analysis; (2) complying with the overall requirements for economic development, further promoting the reforms on the verification of imports and exports, the development of the foreign exchange market, the administration of foreign exchange accounts, the diversification of channels for capital outflows and other key areas, and critical aspects of foreign exchange administration; (3) further improving supervision of abnormal cross-border fund flows, constructing a sound monitoring and warning system, an off-site inspection system, and an emergency management system, strengthening the monitoring and analysis of abnormal cross-border fund inflows and outflows, launching a special campaign to crack down on illegal activities by underground money shops, and preventing and diffusing the risks of cross-border capital flows; (4) boosting the integration of foreign exchange administration data with the administration system, promoting the comprehensive utilization of administration information, streamlining procedures for foreign exchange businesses, and improving the efficiency of monitoring and supervision and the service level; (5) constantly increasing the transparency of policies on foreign exchange administration, broadening the scope of release of statistical data on the balance of payments, reinforcing the integration of laws and regulations with respect to foreign exchange administration, and enhancing interactions and communications between the SAFE and the media and the general public; (6) further improving the foreign exchange reserves operation and management mechanism, enhancing the introduction and training of personnel, and striving to achieve security, and insure and increase the value of the foreign exchange reserve assets; (7) strengthening improvement of Party conduct, clean administration, and construction of the ranks of cadres, and enhancing the capability and level of administration according to the law. 2010-01-06/en/2010/0106/916.html
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Recently, a summary and commendation conference on struggling against illegal and criminal foreign exchange activities in 2009 was held by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) and the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) in Zhuhai city of Guangdong province. The conference summarized progress by the SAFE and the MPS in cracking down on illegal and criminal activities in foreign exchange transactions, such as underground money shops, online foreign exchange speculation, and so forth, commended advanced organizations and individuals that performed outstandingly in struggling against such illegal and criminal activities, and devised a plan for relevant work regarding cracking down on illegal and criminal foreign exchange activities in 2010. Deng Xianhong, deputy administrator of the SAFE and Han Hao, deputy director-general of the Economic Crimes Investigation Department of the MPS, attended the conference and delivered speeches. In recent years, the foreign exchange administration departments and public security organs in various regions have attached priority to efforts to crack down on underground money shops, online foreign exchange speculation, and other illegal and criminal activities involving foreign exchange transactions, and have launched a battery of special collaborative campaigns to combat the above activities by making full use of their respective roles and strengths. A series of significant cases were investigated, which considerably frightened criminals and preserved normal order in the states administration of financial and foreign exchange affairs. Statistics show that in 2009 the foreign exchange administration departments and public security organs in various regions successfully uncovered 11 cases of underground money shops, 8 cases of online foreign exchange speculation, 11 cases of illegal foreign exchange transactions, and ferreted out more than 51 nests of illegal foreign exchange transactions, involving a total amount of more than RMB30 billion. The conference commended 26 advanced organizations and 63 individuals that had exhibited outstanding performance in cracking down on illegal and criminal foreign exchange activities in 2009, such as underground money shops and online foreign exchange speculation, and called on other foreign exchange administration departments and public security organs in various regions to learn from them. Meanwhile, the conference noted that the commended organizations and individuals should guard against arrogance and in the future should try even harder to achieve new progress in struggling against underground money shops, online foreign exchange speculation, and other illegal and criminal foreign exchange activities. It was pointed out at the conference that at present there are considerable uncertainties regarding the recovery of the global economy and the Chinese economy still faces many difficulties and challenges for sound development. These challenges will expose China to a more complicated situation in terms of cross-border fund flows and will place greater pressures and require even greater responsibility to strengthen supervision of cross-border fund flows. It is particularly important that in 2010, as the growth of foreign trade exports is beginning to be restored and the pace of foreign direct investment is likely to accelerate, there will be an increasing likelihood that overseas short-term arbitrage funds will flow into China through various channels. All these factors will impose greater pressures on net inflows of foreign exchange. The conference made plans to continue the struggle against illegal and criminal activities in foreign exchange transactions in 2010. The foreign exchange administration departments and public security organs in various regions will be required to make the most of their respective roles and advantages and to follow tips about significant illegal and criminal cases regarding foreign exchange transactions in a timely manner. The SAFE and the MPS will provide guidance and supervision over key cases of illegal and criminal foreign exchange activities. The foreign exchange administration departments and public security organs in various regions will be required to collaborate with the relevant departments to simultaneously crack down on and prevent illegal activities, to cleanse the market environment, to launch focused rectification campaigns in areas and places within their respective jurisdictions with frequent occurrences of illegal and criminal foreign exchange transaction activities, and to limit the space for the propagation of underground money shops and other illegal and criminal foreign exchange activities. These administration departments and organs will be required to actively disseminate information about the dangers of illegal and criminal foreign exchange activities, such as underground money shops, via various media. and to appeal for efforts by the masses to carry out foreign exchange transactions via legal channels. It was emphasized at the conference that in 2010 the foreign exchange administration departments and public security organs in various regions should further raise awareness and enhance a sense of responsibility and urgency for cracking down on illegal and criminal foreign exchange activities, such as underground money shops, online foreign exchange speculation, and so forth, by making full use of the cooperative strengths of the various departments in an effort to maintain normal financial order and social stability of the state. Intensified efforts should be made to crack down on such illegal and criminal activities with the aim of making new contributions to the preservation of the economic and financial security of the state as well as building a harmonious society. 2010-02-12/en/2010/0212/919.html