People's Bank of China, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Commerce, General Administration of Customs, State Administration of Taxation and China Banking Regulatory Commission, Measures for the Administration of Pilot Projects for Cross-border Trade Settlement in Renminbi

Promulgated: July 1 2009
Effective: as of date of promulgation
Applicability: The Measures apply to cross-border trade settlement in renminbi in pilot regions permitted by the State Council (Article 3).

Main contents: The state permits designated and qualified enterprises to conduct cross-border trade settlement in renminbi on a voluntary basis, and supports commercial banks to provide services for cross-border trade settlement in renminbi (Article 2). The settlement of import and export transactions between pilot enterprises and overseas enterprises in renminbi may have the clearing banks in Hong Kong or Macao, or domestic commercial banks that act as agents for overseas commercial banks, carry out cross-border settlement and clearing of renminbi funds (Article 6). Domestic agent banks may set a minimum deposit requirement for accounts opened by overseas participating banks, and may provide currency conversion services for the said minimum deposits (Article 10). They may, as per the request of overseas participating banks, purchase and sell renminbi within the limit specified by the People's Bank of China (PBOC) (Article 11). They may also provide financing for inter-bank renminbi transfer accounts opened by overseas participating banks to meet their temporary liquidity needs. The limit and term of financing shall be determined by the PBOC (Article 12). Hong Kong and Macao renminbi clearing banks may convert foreign currency into renminbi with, and borrow funds from, the mainland interbank foreign exchange market and interbank loan market. The limit of renminbi conversion, and the limit and tenor of loans shall be determined by the PBOC (Article 13).

The settlement of cross-border trade in renminbi of pilot enterprises shall not be subject to the administration of foreign exchange verification and reconciliation. Foreign exchange verification and reconciliation forms shall not be required for handling customs clearance and tax rebate (exemption) for export goods (Article 18). Where a pilot enterprise wishes to deposit the renminbi proceeds from export trade in an overseas bank, it shall file a record with the local office of the PBOC through its domestic settlement bank (Article 23).