Circular of the General Affairs Department of the SAFE on the Official Operation

The branches and foreign exchange administration departments of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange in all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government, the branches of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange in Shenzhen, Dalian, Qingdao, Xiamen, and Ningbo, and all designated Chinese-funded foreign exchange banks:

Since implementation of the policy for the on-line inspection of the collection and settlement of foreign exchange from exports on July 14, 2008, the trial run of the on-line inspection system for foreign exchange collection and settlement of export proceeds has operated normally, and the policy effects have become apparent. During the trial-run period of the inspection system, the SAFE actively tracked the implementation of the policy, reinforced professional guidance and policy interpretation, and promptly released documents for clarification with respect to some common problems. All local SAFE offices, according to the requirements of the SAFE, carefully organized implementation, reinforced policy interpretation and operating instructions, and effectively guaranteed the smooth enforcement of the policy. The inspection system began formal operations as of August 4, 2008. The relevant issues are hereby further clarified as follows:

I. The banks shall conduct on-line inspections of electronic data on foreign exchange export proceeds collected by enterprises in accordance with the relevant regulations of the Circular of the SAFE, the MOFCOM, and the General Administration of Customs on Printing and Distributing the "Measures for On-line Inspection of Foreign Exchange Collection and Settlement of Export Proceeds" (Huifa No.29 [2008]), the Circular of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Issues concerning Implementation of Management of the Registration of the External Debt under the Item of Corporate Trade in Goods (Huifa No.30 [2008]), and the Circular of the SAFE on Issues related to Implementation of the Measures for the On-line Inspection of Foreign Exchange Collection and Settlement of Export Proceeds  (Huifa No.31 [2008]).

II. Enterprises shall not handle the formalities for the collection and settlement of foreign exchange from exports by forging, altering, or borrowing the export declaration forms; the export declaration forms from previous collections of foreign exchange or collections of foreign exchange with the imported materials deducted shall not be used repeatedly for the collection and settlement of foreign exchange.

III. All SAFE branches shall strengthen professional guidance for the central sub-branches and sub-branches within their respective jurisdictions, effectively supervise and inspect the policy implementation of the banks and enterprises within their respective jurisdictions, and publicize, explain, and provide policy guidance, so as to facilitate the business transactions of the banks and enterprises.

All SAFE branches shall, after receiving this Circular, immediately forward it to all central sub-branches, sub-branches, foreign-funded banks, local commercial banks, and relevant units. If any entities encounter problems in the implementation of this Circular, feedback should be sent to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange in a timely manner.