The branches and foreign exchange administrative departments of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) in all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government, the SAFE branches in Shenzhen, Dalian, Qingdao, Xiamen, and Ningbo, all Chinese-funded designated foreign exchange banks and the China Foreign Exchange Trade System:

In the early morning of April 14, 2010, a severe earthquake hit Yushu county in Yushu Tibetan Autonomous prefecture of Qinghai province, which resulted in heavy casualties and huge property losses. To enhance policy support in terms of foreign exchange administration to fight the quake and to carry out relief work, this emergency circular is hereby promulgated as follows:

I. The branches and foreign exchange administration departments under the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (hereinafter referred to as SAFE branches) shall make all-out efforts to fight the earthquake and to carry out relief work by implementing the overall requirements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council on fighting the earthquake and carrying out relief work and complying with the uniform planning of the Party Committees of the Peoples Bank of China in their respective localities. The chief persons-in-charge of the SAFE branches shall serve as the primary duty officers for fighting the earthquake and for carrying out the relief work, and they shall take full responsibility for implementing the relevant tasks within their jurisdictions. The job responsibility system for fighting the earthquake and carrying out relief work shall be implemented in all respects and at all levels. 

II. The SAFE branches shall establish Green Channels for fighting the quake, carrying out relief work, and implementing post-disaster reconstruction. All kinds of foreign exchange services work shall be earnestly fulfilled.

1. Efforts shall be made to facilitate timely provision of donations for fighting the earthquake and carrying out relief work. When receiving donations for disaster relief from overseas countries or regions, government departments above the county level (inclusive) in Qinghai province and legally-established domestic NGOs are allowed to complete the procedures for account entry and settlement of the foreign exchange funds (including foreign currencies in cash), provided that it is explicitly noted in the transaction remarks that the funds are to be used for fighting the earthquake and carrying out relief work, or that a written explanation is provided by the organizations that have received the fund. Nevertheless, the funds shall not be deposited in accounts other than the foreign exchange accounts for receiving donations. Foreign exchange funds in the foreign exchange accounts of domestic institutions or personal accounts under the current account can be transferred directly to the foreign exchange donation accounts for fighting the quake and carrying out relief work. If there is a need to settle the exchange before remitting the relevant funds to the foreign exchange donation accounts, the existing policies on the administration of foreign exchange accounts under the current account as well as on the personal foreign exchange accounts shall be implemented.

During the disaster relief period, domestic enterprises registered in Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture may, while receiving overseas foreign exchange donations for earthquake relief and post-disaster reconstruction for the affected enterprises, complete the procedures for account entry and settlement of the foreign exchange funds directly at the banks based on the validity of the application letters.

With respect to overseas funds which are donated via domestic enterprises to domestic legally-established NGOs and are to be used for earthquake relief and post-disaster reconstruction in Yushu county, the domestic enterprises can proceed with the account entry formalities based on the validity of the donation agreement which specifies the purposes of the funds, and can transfer such funds to the relevant NGOs.

The donated foreign exchange funds must be used for earthquake relief and post-disaster reconstruction work and conform to Chinese laws, regulations, and other relevant provisions. All donation recipients shall carefully keep proof of the expenditures of the foreign exchange donations for future inspection.

2. For the remittance of donations with the payee being domestic government departments or legally-established NGOs, the relevant procedures for the pre-settlement of exchange and remittances of funds can be handled by qualified overseas branches of the Bank of China, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and the China Construction Bank.

3. During the period for fighting the earthquake and carrying out relief work, banks are allowed to make statistical declarations of the balance of payments (hereinafter referred to as the declaration) for the quake-fighting and relief funds remitted from overseas countries or regions that have been received by government departments and NGOs, such as the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Head Office of the Red Cross Society of China, the China Charity Federation, the China Environmental Protection Foundation, the China Children and TeenagersFund, and the China Association for NGO Cooperation. The declaration banks shall transmit the relevant information in a timely manner to the local administrations of foreign exchange, and shall sign and keep in safety the declaration agreements with the aforementioned special entities prior to handling the relevant declarations.

4. The short-term external debt quotas shall be increased in an appropriate manner for Qinghai province in 2010. Chinese-funded enterprises within the jurisdiction of the Qinghai Provincial Government will be allowed to borrow short-term external debts within the ratified quotas.

5. After consultation with the China Foreign Exchange Trading System, it has been decided that all transactional terminal fees, transaction fees, and settlement fees arising from transactions on the inter-bank foreign exchange market for corporate financial institutions of Qinghai province will be exempted for the full amount for the year 2010.

The foregoing temporary measures adopted during the period of fighting the earthquake and carrying out relief work shall remain in effect for one year.

III. The SAFE branches shall, in compliance with overall planning, keep a close eye on the operational condition of the networks and foreign exchange business systems within their jurisdictions and enhance the monitoring of the networks and systems so as to ensure the stable operation of the networks and foreign exchange business systems as well as the smooth implementation of various business tasks.

IV. The SAFE branches shall further enhance emergency duties and information submissions, carry out earnestly the 24-hour duty system, and ensure the smooth transmission of government orders. Information about fighting the earthquake and carrying out relief work shall be submitted uniformly to the General Affairs Department of the SAFE (duty room) and the relevant departments.

V. The SAFE branches shall, in compliance with overall planning, carry out the Love Contribution donation activities in an orderly manner, vigorously support the post-disaster reconstruction of the quake-hit areas, fully carry forward the spirit of devoting collaborated efforts to assisting those suffering from disasters, and give strong support to reconstruction work through conscientious efforts.