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; and the head offices of the designated Chinese-funded foreign exchange banks:
For the purpose of responding to the macroeconomic policy adjustment of the state, giving full scope to the intermediary credit function of financial institutions, as well as promoting the growth of the entire economy and trade financing, the SAFE hereby provides notification on the examination and ratification of short-term external debt quotas of domestic financial institutions (hereinafter referred to as "financial institutions") in 2009 (from April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2010, hereinafter the same) and the following relevant policies:
I. Examined and ratified short-term external debt quotas of national-level Chinese-funded banks totaling USD 9.855 billion in the year 2009 (see addendum 1 for details).
Examined and ratified short-term external debt quotas of foreign-funded banks with legal person status and branches of foreign-funded banks adopting centralized management of the 2009 short-term external debt quotas totaling US$14.573 billion (see addendum 2 for details).
Examined and ratified short-term external debt quotas of Chinese and foreign-funded banks with legal person status and branches of foreign-funded banks without centralized management of short-term external debt quotas within the jurisdictions of the SAFE branches and foreign exchange administration departments (hereinafter referred to as the "SAFE branches") totaling US$8.448 billion (see addendum 3 for details).
II. All forms of short-term external debts of financial institutions shall be incorporated into the management of the outstanding short-term external debt quota, with the following exceptions:
(1). Accepted but unpaid letters of credit with a maturity of under 90 days (inclusive) and overseas agency payments with a maturity of under 90 days (inclusive);
(2). Non-resident individual deposits with an amount of less than US$500,000(inclusive) in the same legal-person bank
(3). Balances of various special accounts for foreign investors opened in the name of non-residents upon approval of the SAFE;
(4). Other cases specified by the SAFE that need not be incorporated into the management of the outstanding short-term external debt quota.
III. The Chinese and foreign-funded financial institutions entitled to the 2009 incremental quota shall use the quota increment totally to support import and export financing of domestic enterprises.
IV. Where a financial institution applies for the first time for the short-term external debt quota, the SAFE branch in the region where it is located shall examine and ratify the short-term external debt quota for it within the regional quotas, with the amount not exceeding twice the foreign exchange working capital or its capital.
As for a newly-established branch of a financial institution (FI) within the jurisdiction of a SAFE branch, if the branchs headquarters which is a legal-person institution (or the short-term external debt management bank) has been set up within the same territory, the SAFE branch in the region where the FI branch is located shall not examine and ratify the short-term external debt quotas for it.
After a branch of a foreign-funded financial institution is transformed into a legal-person institution, such legal-person institution shall, through the SAFE branch in the region where it is registered, apply to the SAFE to inherit the short-term external debt quotas of the original short-term external debt management bank or of all the branches within the borders of China.
V. The SAFE branches, in compliance with the guiding principles of facilitating economic growth, supporting trade financing, preventing external financial risks, and promoting a balance of payments equilibrium, based on the use of the short-term external debt quotas of financial institutions within their respective jurisdictions and the characteristics of the fund sources and the operational structure, shall fairly and reasonably allocate and adjust the short-term external debt quotas for the purpose of improving the efficiency in the use of the quota.
The SAFE branches shall guide and encourage financial institutions to expand the trade financing business, and promote the healthy development of the entire economy and foreign trade. The quota increment of the various regions within the jurisdictions of the SAFE branches shall be used preferentially for banks with a larger trade settlement volume, ensuring that the newly added quotas are totally used to support financing for the import and export business of domestic enterprises.
VI. For the purposes of reasonably utilizing foreign exchange, improving the efficiency of the use of the short-term external debt quota, as well as meeting the requirements of regional economic development, in accordance with the specific circumstances the SAFE transfers to its branches the examination and ratification authority of the short-term external debt quotas of Chinese and foreign-funded legal-person financial institutions with fewer branches and a small scale of assets. The SAFE branches in the regions where the headquarters of the legal-person institutions (or the short-term external debt management banks) are located shall examine and ratify the quotas for them. Where such quotas fill the regional quotas of the SAFE branches, the SAFE shall adjust the regional quotas accordingly.
VII. Financial institutions shall borrow, use, and pay the external debt in strict compliance with the Interim Provisions for Statistics and Supervision of the External Debt, the Interim Measures for the Management of the External Debt, and other regulations on external debt management, and shall carry out the external debt registration in the external debt statistical and supervisory system.
VIII. The SAFE branches shall conduct strict management and supervision on the implementation of the short-term external debt quotas of financial institutions within their respective jurisdictions and urge the financial institutions to reasonably use the short-term external debt quotas in compliance with the macro policies and decisions of the state. The SAFE branches shall, within 15 working days after the end of each quarter, report to the SAFE detailed information on the short-term external debt quotas of the financial institutions within their respective jurisdictions.
IX. Other requirements shall be implemented in accordance with the relevant provisions in the Notice of the SAFE on Distributing the Short-term External Debt Quotas of Financial Institutions in 2008 (Huifa No. 14 [2008]).
Hereby notified.

(Addendum elided)

                                                                March 17, 2009