The branches and foreign exchange administration departments of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) in all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government, and the SAFE branches in Shenzhen, Dalian, Qingdao, Xiamen, and Ningbo, and commercial banks in China,

To implement the arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, and make all-out efforts to control the NCP epidemic, the SAFE notifies as follows relevant issues on offering convenient foreign exchange policy in the epidemic prevention and control period:

First, all the SAFE branches and sub-branches shall start the emergency response mechanism, and in line with the principle of handling special cases with special methods, guide the banks within their respective jurisdictions to streamline processes and materials for purchase and payment of foreign exchange for imports of epidemic prevention and control supplies needed by relevant authorities and local governments, so as to practically improve efficiency.

Second, for foreign exchange donations for fighting the epidemic from domestic and foreign donors alike, banks can recognize the receipts and settle foreign exchange via the beneficiary's existing foreign exchange settlement account under the current account. The requirement of opening up separate foreign exchange account for donations has been suspended.

Third, while handling foreign exchange settlement and payment of receipts related with prevention and control of the epidemic under the capital account, enterprises are not required to submit documents or certificates for each transaction beforehand. Banks will intensify ex-post random inspection on the authenticity of fund use of such enterprises.

Fourth, external debt quota for enterprises can be removed, in case that it is really required for epidemic prevention and control. To facilitate cross-border financing, such enterprises can apply for external debt registration via the “Online Application System of Government Services of the SAFE” at http://zwfw.safe.gov.cn/asone.

Fifth, banks shall keep a keen eye on individuals' demand for foreign exchange and encourage them to go through individual foreign exchange transactions via online channels like mobile banking.

Sixth, for other special foreign exchange services in connection with epidemic prevention and control, banks can handle them first and report them to local foreign exchange authorities for filing.

In addition, the effective date of the Circular of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Streamlining Foreign Exchange Accounts (Huifa No. 29, [2019]) will be extended from February 1 to March 2, 2020. Therefore, banks shall report relevant data using the original account type code before 8pm on February 28, make preparations in accordance with the above Circular from 8pm on February 28 to 8pm on March 1, and then use the updated account code to submit relevant data starting from March 2.

This Circular will be effective as of the date of issuance. The branches and foreign exchange administrative departments of the SAFE shall forward this Circular to the central sub-branches and sub-branches of the SAFE and banks in their jurisdictions as soon as possible; and commercial banks shall also forward this Circular to their branches and sub-branches as quickly as possible. Please contact the SAFE for any problems arising during implementation.

Tel: 010-68402416, 68402365

General Affairs Department of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange

January 27, 2020