China to facilitate cross-border e-commerce settlement

BEIJING — The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) issued a guideline on April 29 to facilitate the settlement for cross-border e-commerce.

According to the guideline, payment institutions are allowed to offer market entities electronic payment services via banks under current accounts, depending on relevant electronic transaction information.

They can also provide Chinese residents with foreign exchange services for cross-border shopping, overseas education and tourism, the guideline said.

To ensure transaction safety, the guideline urged payment service providers to establish a sound risk management system and beef up transaction authenticity and compliance audit.

Banks are required to strengthen the audit and supervision over payment agencies’ foreign exchange services, and may also provide market entities foreign exchange settlement and sale services as well as fund collection and payment services depending on electronic transaction information.

To meet the growing demand for overseas online shopping, China launched trial cross-border foreign exchange services through payment institutions in Shanghai, Beijing, Chongqing, Zhejiang and Shenzhen in 2013, and expanded the pilot nationwide in 2015.