Better Current Account Management System and Mechanism for Trade...

Title:Better Current Account Management System and Mechanism for Trade Liberalization and Facilitation，and High-Level Opening-Up

LIU Bin

Director-General of SAFE’s Current Account Management Department

China Forex: In 2023，what will be the overall direction of the foreign exchange administration's work under the current account?

LIU Bin:  The current account transactions are crucial livelihood projects because they are closely linked to the real economy and people’s daily lives. Meanwhile，they serve as the “ballast stone” for the balance of payments and the “booster” for the development of foreign-related economies.

2023 is the first year to fully implement the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress. For the implementation of the 14th Five-Year Plan，2023 is also a crucial year to link the past and the future. The foreign exchange administration under the current account will adhere to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era，fully implement the guiding principles from the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC)，as well as the arrangements made at the Central Economic Work Conference. We will seek integrity while preserving innovation and pursuing progress while maintaining stability by fully，precisely and thoroughly implementing the new development philosophy. Moreover，we will pay close attention to the strategic decision to accelerate the construction of a new development pattern，make the dual cycle of domestic and international factors of production unimpeded，and improve the quality and level of domestic and international factors of circulation to provide a solid safeguard for the basic balance and stable operation of balance of payments. At the same time，we will continue to deepen the reform in the field of foreign exchange administration under the current account. Specifically，we will take management optimization and institutional innovation as the main tasks，serving entities and facilitating people’s livelihood as the driving force，and secure，efficient and low-cost cross-border settlement of current account funds as the goal. In addition，we will constantly upgrade the foreign exchange management mechanism under the current account，which is adapted to the high-level opening-up under a new development pattern，and support the high-quality development of the foreign-related economy.

China Forex: After the State Council released the Guidelines on Accelerating the Development of New Forms and Models of Foreign Trade，new forms and models of foreign trade have flourished. Under the new situation of high-quality development，how can the foreign exchange administration under the current account address the demands of new forms and models of foreign trade and promote the healthy development of new forms of trade?

LIU Bin:  In recent years，new forms and models of foreign trade，such as new offshore international trade，cross-border e-commerce，and market procurement，have developed rapidly and become a new driving force for the development of China’s foreign trade.

First，we will improve the management of the new type of offshore international trade. Notably，we will further implement and promote the supporting policies of new offshore international trade. Through business training and case study，we give publicity to the new policy orientation to support the development of the real economy and refine the requirements for bank audit and business development operations. We will launch new offshore international trade business models such as overseas processing，global procurement，and third-country purchase of contracted projects after ensuring the legitimacy，compliance，and manageable risks of the businesses. This will help reduce logistics and settlement costs for the production and operation of enterprises and better serve the optimization of manufacturer’s industrial chain and supply chain and the innovative development of the real economy.

Second，we will optimize the settlement channels for market purchases. We will support the online self-service collection and foreign exchange settlement by market purchasing entities registered on the networked information platform. In addition，we will guide key branches to improve the efficiency of fund settlement by enhancing data collection channels，promoting platform construction，and continuously dealing with ab