The 2026 National Foreign Exchange Administration Work Conference was convened in Beijing from January 5 to 6, 2026. The conference thoroughly studied and implemented the spirit of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee and the Central Economic Work Conference. It also reviewed the foreign exchange administration work in the year 2025, analyzed the current financial and foreign exchange situation,researched and made arrangements for the key tasks in 2026. Zhu Hexin, Secretary of the CPC Leadership Group of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (the SAFE) and Administrator of the SAFE,delivered a work report. Members of the CPC SAFE Leadership Group and the Deputy Administrators attended the conference.

The conference pointed out that in 2025, the SAFE earnestly implemented the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, considered both domestic and international imperatives, balanced development and security,strengthened the systematic integration of foreign exchange policies, enhanced the development and regulation of the foreign exchange market, and new achievements have been realized across the board. Firstly, the SAFE promoted the high-quality development of foreign exchange administration work through high-quality Party building. The SAFE thoroughly studied and implemented the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speeches and important instructions, solidly carried out educational activities to thoroughly implement the central Party leadership's eight-point decision on conduct, further advanced full and strict governance over the Party, rigorously and solidly implemented the Central inspection rectification,and resolutely achieved the "Two Upholds". Secondly, the SAFE vigorously improved the quality and efficiency of foreign exchange services in supporting the real economy. The SAFE implemented a package of policies to support the stable development of foreign trade and deepen cross-border investment and financing reform. It also provided support for new trade format such as cross-border e-commerce, which handled over one billion online foreign exchange transactions,thereby contributing to the stability in foreign trade and foreign investment.Foreign exchange market development was deepened, effectively meeting foreign exchange needs, with market trading volume and hedging ratios among enterprises hitting historical highs. The SAFE effectively fulfilled the five major financial tasks by focusing on supporting sci-tech enterprises. Meanwhile, foreign exchange services for foreigners coming to China witnessed continuous optimization. The foreign exchange policy and foreign exchange ecosystem assessment mechanism was improved. Thirdly, the SAFE deepened and expanded reform and opening-up in the foreign exchange field. The SAFE improved the quality and promoted expansion of reform of the banks' foreign exchange operations,with relevant banks handling foreign exchange transactions totaling USD 440 billion based on customer instructions throughout the year.The SAFE advanced the opening of capital account, by rolling out the policy for the integrated capital pool for multinational companies’ domestic and foreign currencies nationwide,unifying the domestic and foreign currency fund management policies for overseas-listed domestic enterprises, and orderly issuing quotas for Qualified Domestic Institutional Investors (QDII). The SAFE actively supported the development of key regions,implemented a package of foreign exchange facilitation policies to bolster pilot free trade zones construction, jointly issued an action plan to further improve the facilitation of cross-border financial services in the Shanghai International Financial Center, and supported the special customs operations of the Hainan Free Trade Port. Fourthly, the SAFE strengthened full-coverage supervision of the foreign exchange field. Macro-prudential management and expectation guidance for cross-border capital flows were enhanced. The foreign exchange market withstood pressures and operated smoothly,demonstrating strong resilience and vitality. The SAFE also improved the in-process and ex-post supervision mechanism,and severely cracked down on illegal and irregular activities in the foreign exchange field,such as underground banks,handling more than 1,100 illegal and irregular cases in total. Fifthly, the SAFE continuously improve the management of foreign exchange reserves with Chinese characteristics,the reserves scale remained basically stable.

The conference emphasized that in 2026, the foreign exchange administration work should be guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, fully implement the spirit of the 20th CPC National Congress and the plenary sessions of the 20th CPC Central Committee, earnestly implement the decisions and arrangements of the Central Economic Work Conference and the Central Financial Work Conference. In accordance with the requirements of the National Financial System Work Conference, the SAFE will persist in seeking progress while maintaining stability, upgrading quality while boosting efficiency, better coordinate development and security,commit to establishing a "more convenient, more open, more secure and more intelligent" foreign exchange administration system and mechanism.The SAFE will promote in-depth reform and high-level opening-up in the foreign exchange field,effectively meet the foreign exchange needs for all types of entities, prevent and resolve external shock risks, and further strengthen in-process and ex-post supervision,strive to create a foreign exchange policy environment that is both flexible yet well-regulated, contribute foreign exchange strength to the successful launch and good start of the 15th Five-Year Plan. 

The conference outlined key tasks for foreign exchange administration in 2026. Firstly, the SAFE will strengthen Party's overall leadership on financial work and persistently promote full and strict governance over the Party. The SAFE will conscientiously implement the "First Agenda" system,consolidate and deepen the effectiveness of inspection and rectification,enhance the quality and efficiency of Party building across the system,build a strong contingent of cadres and talents, and further  improve conduct, enforce discipline,and combat corruption with sustained efforts. Secondly, the SAFE will promote foreign exchange facilitation reforms,and strive to enhance vitality and impetus for high-quality development. Key measures include optimizing management of trade foreign exchange business, orderly expanding pilot programs for high-level opening-up of cross-border trade,increasing support for the development of new trade formats such as cross-border e-commerce, and improving management of corporate trade credit reporting. The SAFE will build an open, diversified, fully functional and competitively ordered foreign exchange market, support financial institutions in developing simple and user-friendly exchange rate hedging products, reduce the cost of exchange rate risk management for micro, small and medium-sized  enterprises, and enhance the service capacity of foreign exchange market infrastructure. The SAFE will continue to effectively deliver on the five major financial tasks, expand the application scenarios of the cross-border financial services platforms, strengthen the transmission and evaluation of foreign exchange policies to improve the effectiveness of policy implementation. Thirdly, the SAFE will steadily advance high-level institutional opening-up in the foreign exchange field to facilitate multi-field cooperation for mutual benefit. The SAFE will steadily and orderly advance the reform of banks’ foreign exchange operations, guide already reformed banks to extend their practices to branches nationwide, steadily encourage more banks to launch reforms,and strengthen the integration of business reform with facilitation policies. The SAFE will introduce management policies for overseas lending and domestic foreign exchange loan funds, and implement the integrated cross-border capital pool management policy for multinational corporations’ domestic and foreign currencies nationwide. The SAFE will also strengthen integrated reform and innovation of foreign exchange policies in pilot free trade zones, support the construction of international financial centers in Shanghai and Hong Kong, as well as the development of the Hainan Free Trade Port and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Fourthly, the SAFE will uphold bottom-line thinking, and reinforce the "breakwater and wavebarrier" for the foreign exchange market. The SAFE will intensify analysis and assessment of the foreign exchange situation, enhance macro-prudential management and expectations guidance in light of changing conditions, so as to maintain the stable and sound operation of the foreign exchange market. Fifthly, the SAFE will further consolidate and strengthen foreign exchange supervision,elevate the capacity and level of supervision under open conditions. The SAFE will enforce laws in a strict,standardized,impartial and civilized manner, deepen off-site supervisory capacity building, enhance analysis of abnormal channels and clues, strengthen supervision of trading behaviors in the foreign exchange market, and continue to crack down on illegal cross-border financial activities. Sixthly, the SAFE will ensure the safety, liquidity, and value preservation and appreciation of China's foreign exchange reserves assets. Seventhly, the SAFE will promote the amendment of the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Foreign Exchange Administration, build a higher-standard international balance of payments statistics system,steadily explore the development of "Intelligent Foreign Exchange Administration", and enhance digitalization and intelligentization of foreign exchange administration.

The responsible comrades of all departments, provincial branches,and subordinate units of the SAFE, as well as the responsible comrades of the discipline inspection and supervision team stationed in the SAFE, attended the conference. The relevant comrades from the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, the Office of the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission, the Office of the Central Financial Commission, the General Office of the State Council, and the Ministry of Finance were also present at the conference upon invitation.