China's recently announced rules for overseas transactions using domestic bank cards comply with the country's overall regulation of financial markets and are also vital for fighting money laundering, illegal transfer of assets and tax avoidance, experts noted Sunday.
The State Administration of Foreign Exchange said in a statement on its website on Friday that China's banks will be asked to report on a daily basis their bank card holders' withdrawals in overseas countries and regions starting from September 1, as well as any bank transactions exceeding 1,000 yuan.
Under the previous rules, China only measured the total amount of foreign transactions made by domestic bank card holders.
"With increasing requirements to fight money laundering, terrorist financing and tax avoidance, measures for cross-border transactions need to be enhanced in terms of trading transparency and quality of statistics," the SAFE statement said.
SAFE said that the new rules will not change the country's foreign exchange management policy and that it will continue to support and guarantee legitimate use of bank cards in foreign countries and regions.
Bank cards have become the major overseas payment tools for Chinese people. In 2016, transactions made by domestic bank card holders overseas surpassed $120 billion, according to the foreign exchange regulator.
The new regulation will apply to all kinds of Chinese bank cards, including debit and credit cards, and SAFE will protect the information privacy of the card holders, the statement said.
China's recently announced rules for overseas transactions using domestic bank cards comply with the country's overall regulation of financial markets and are also vital for fighting money laundering, illegal transfer of assets and tax avoidance, experts noted Sunday.
