Q&A on International Payments Declarations

Q:If a domestic company makes renminbi payments to a foreign employee and the payments are made within China，is an international payments declaration required?

A:Such transactions are covered by the provisions of Article 4 of the Rules for the Implementation of International Payments Statistics Declaration through Banks (hereinafter referred to as the Rules). These payments are considered to be transactions between domestic residents and domestic non-residents. Domestic enterprises are therefore required to make a declaration of international payments for such transactions with domestic non-residents.

Q: But is a declaration required for all renminbi transactions?

A:According to the relevant provisions of Article 4 of the Rules，declarations are not required for "temporary" renminbi payments between domestic residents and domestic non-residents. Moreover，according to Article 8 of the Rules，declarations are not necessary for payments of less than US$5,000 to individuals. However，transactions between domestic non-residents and overseas individuals and enterprises do require a declaration.

Q: What criteria is used for determining whether an individual is a resident or a non-resident? For example，if an individual has a Japanese permanent residence permit is he or she considered to be a non-resident?

A:According to the provisions of Article 5 of the Rules，the determination of whether someone is a non-resident is based on whether or not that person has lived in China for at least one year. But in practice，it is difficult to determine if an individual has lived in China for more than one year. Therefore，the determination is usually made according to the person’s identity card，permanent residence permit，or passport.

In theory，foreign permanent residence permits can prove that an individual has lived abroad for a long period of time. Thus，these persons can make international payments as non-residents. At the same time，these persons can be deemed as the residents based on their nationality (usually Chinese) written in their permanent residence permits. Either way is acceptable.

Q: Who is responsible for declaring transactions between domestic residents and domestic non-residents?

A:According to the provisions of Article 6 of the Rules，domestic residents are the ones who need to declare the international payments.

Q: Can international payments between domestic non-residents and overseas residents and non-residents be declared through a bank?

A:According to the provisions of Article 6 of the Rules，such transactions can be declared through a bank without having to fill out a paper declaration vouchers.

Q: What is considered to be basic information? What is declaration information?

A:Basic information usually refers to a bank's accounting information. Such information is usually generated automatically by the accounting system and imported into the macro system，mainly including the name of the receiver/payer (remittance)，the organization code/personal ID number，the currency of collection/payment (remittance)，the amount and the like.

Declaration information is all information in the declaration besides the basic information. It mainly includes pay/recipien