State Administration of Foreign Exchange, Issues Relevant to the Sale and Payment of Foreign Exchange for Non-trade Items That Are Not Expressly Specified in Prevailing Laws and Regulations Circular

Issued: March 6 2003
Effective: April 1 2003

Main contents: This Circular sets out the procedures for the sale and payment of foreign exchange for non-trade items that are not expressly specified in prevailing laws and regulations. For those with an amount of US$50,000 or below, a domestic organization may directly complete verification, and sale and payment of foreign exchange with a designated foreign exchange bank. For those with an amount more than US$50,000 but less than or equal to US$500,000, the domestic organization shall obtain verification from a branch of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) before it can proceed with a designated bank for sale and payment of foreign exchange. For those with an amount over US$500,000, it shall apply to a SAFE branch at the locality, which will forward relevant documents to SAFE for verification. Then it can handle sale and payment of foreign exchange with a designated foreign exchange bank on the strength of the approval of the SAFE branch at the locality (Item One). Certain enterprises or work units can be exempted from the above requirements after permitted by a SAFE branch at the locality and may proceed with the bank directly. The local SAFE branches may formulate their own permission conditions. In case of a violation by an approved organization, the local SAFE branch shall notify the bank to immediately disqualify it (Item Two). Designated foreign exchange banks shall register and report each foreign exchange sale and payment transaction to the SAFE branch at the locality (Item Six).
Related legislation: PRC Administration of Foreign Exchange Control Regulations (2nd Revision), Aug 5 2008, CLP 2008 No.8 p77; Administration of the Settlement, Sale and Payment of Foreign Exchange Provisions, Jun 20 1996, CLP 1996 No.8 p39 and Relevant Questions Concerning the Submission of Tax Receipts for Sale and Payment of Foreign Exchange for Non-trade and Certain Capital Account Items Circular, Oct 18 1999, CLP 2000 No.2 p7