Trade checks to be stepped up

SAFE calls for greater vigilance after uncovering fraudulent deals worth $10 billion

China is stepping up its crackdown on fraudulent trading activities that circumvent capital controls and create channels for hot money inflows and illegal cross-border capital flows, top regulatory officials said on Thursday.

The foreign exchange regulator has so far unearthed fraudulent trade transactions worth $10 billion since it started the investigations in April, the officials said. Some of the cases involved imports and exports at the Qingdao Port, which is already at the center of a commodity financing scandal and under investigation by the authorities, said Wu Ruilin, deputy director of the inspection department at the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.