China to expand institutional opening-up of forex in H2

BEIJING - The State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Sunday said in a statement released after its work conference that it will continue to steadily expand institutional opening-up in the foreign exchange sector in the second half of this year.

The administration will promote nationwide the facilitation policies for high-level opening-up in cross-border trade foreign exchange receipts and payments, support the development of new forms of trade such as cross-border e-commerce, optimize foreign exchange settlement for service trade, and bolster the development of intermediate goods trade.

It will also promote nationwide the centralized operation policy for domestic and foreign currency cross-border funds of multinational corporations, issue regulations on the administration of domestic foreign exchange loans, and steadily and prudently expand connectivity between financial markets.

At the meeting, it was made clear that the administration will support the development of Shanghai as an international financial center, improve foreign exchange management to implement the plan for upgrading pilot free trade zones, and support the Hainan Free Trade Port and other regions in carrying out foreign exchange management innovations.

The meeting also stressed the need to strengthen the monitoring of cross-border capital flows, continuously improve macro-prudential management and expectation management, and take comprehensive measures to safeguard the stability of the foreign exchange market.