The national foreign exchange administration work conference was held in Beijing recently. Following the gist of the 18th CPC National Congress, the third, fourth and fifth plenums of the 18th CPC Central Committee and the Central Economic Work Conference, the meeting reviewed foreign exchange administration in 2015, analyzed the current economic, financial and BOP situations and made plans for foreign exchange administration for 2016. Pan Gongsheng, Deputy Governor the People's Bank of China and Secretary of the CPC Leading Group of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), delivered a work report, and deputy administrators, chief accountants, heads of the SAFE branches (foreign exchange administration departments) and departments of the SAFE attended the meeting.

The meeting pointed out that, under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council and the guidance of the CPC Committee of the People's Bank of China, foreign exchange authorities, following the principle of seeking progress while maintaining stability, focused on making breakthroughs in the reform, accelerating administration streamlining and power delegation and the "five shifts" in foreign exchange administration, and stressing risk prevention and control in 2015, thereby successfully completing the tasks of the year. The upgraded version of the reform of centralized operation and management of foreign exchange funds of MNCs has achieved initial success, the pilot program of the cross-border foreign exchange payment business of payment institutions has been rolled out nationwide, the facilitation of direct investment convertibility has been enhanced, the pilot program of the macro-prudential management of external debt has been carried out steadily, the ongoing and ex-post monitoring management has been improved, the crackdown on foreign exchange irregularities has strong deterring effect, the foreign exchange reserves operation and management system and mechanism have been improved, and therefore, foreign exchange authorities' capabilities to support economic restructuring, transformation and upgrading have been further strengthened.

The year 2016 is the first year of the 13th Five-Year Plan period, the meeting stressed. Currently, China's economy and finance run stably, the economic development fundamentals remain optimistic, featuring strong potential and high resilience, the balance of payments is in equilibrium, and foreign exchange reserves are abundant, suggesting China's financial system is robust. In the year, foreign exchange authorities should follow the spirit of the 18th CPC National Congress, and the Third, Fourth and Fifth Plenums of the 18th CPC Central Committee, as well as the plans of the Central Economic Work Conference to serve the new normal of economic development. Following the guidance of the "five shifts" in foreign exchange administration under the principles of seeking progress while maintaining stability and breaking new grounds, foreign exchange authorities should continue to boost administration streamlining and power delegation and law-based administration, promote trade and investment facilitation, push forward the capital account convertibility in an orderly manner, intensify monitoring of the balance of payments, and refine the external debt and capital flows management system under the framework of macro-prudential management to enhance the level of operation and management of foreign exchange reserves and ensure a good start of the 13th Five-Year Plan period.

Priorities of foreign exchange administration for 2016 were set at the meeting. First, the reform of the way of foreign exchange monitoring will be pressed ahead with, with ex-ante approval made light of, ongoing and ex-post management improved, and the accuracy and foresight of the monitoring analysis of the balance of payments enhanced to improve the monitoring efficiency. Second, the foreign exchange administration services will be further optimized, with the current account facilitation reform deepened, and foreign exchange administration for cross-border investment and financing enhanced to accelerate the development of the foreign exchange markets. Third, risk prevention and control will be intensified. Foreign exchange authorities are required to guide banks to handle foreign exchange business in line with the three business principles and to strictly perform their responsibilities for authenticity and legitimacy review, crack down on foreign exchange irregularities and maintain the normal order of the foreign exchange markets. Fourth, efforts will be made to ensure sound operation and management of China's foreign exchange reserves, with a focus on coordinating the goals of security, flows and value preservation and growth and further diversifying the use of foreign exchange reserves. Fifth, strict Party conduct will be fully enforced, with the "two responsibilities" performed, and Party building further intensified, with a focus on cleaning up undesirable work styles, upholding integrity, teambuilding and internal management.