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 branches in Shenzhen, Dalian , Qingdao , Xiamen , and Ningbo ; and all designated Chinese-funded foreign exchange banks:

To promote the development of e-banking and online banking, to facilitate the handling of foreign exchange settlement and sales for individuals by designated foreign exchange banks (hereinafter referred to as the banks), and to regularize the administration of e-bank-based foreign exchange settlement and sales for individuals, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (hereinafter referred to as the SAFE) has formulated the Interim Measures for the Administration of E-bank-based Foreign Exchange Settlement and Sales for Individuals (hereinafter referred to as the Interim Measures,see the Annex for details). Relevant issues concerning the Interim Measures are hereby notified as follows:

1. Banks shall commence e-bank-based foreign exchange settlement and sales for individuals in strict compliance with the Interim Measures. Banks that commence E-bank-based foreign exchange settlement for overseas individuals must have the technical capability to automatically extract information on the identity of the overseas individuals and to input the above information into the information system for the administration of foreign exchange settlement and sales for individuals in the form of Country Code + ID Card No.Banks that lack this technical ability  can first commence foreign exchange settlement and sales for domestic individuals, and then file an application with the SAFE for the commencement of foreign exchange settlement and sales for overseas individuals when they are technically capable of providing such services.

2. Banks shall commence e-bank-based foreign exchange settlement and sales in strict compliance with the Circular of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Further Improving the Administration of Foreign Exchange Settlement and Sales for Individuals (Hui Fa [2009] No.56), so as to achieve unified management over foreign  exchange settlement and sales by splitting large amounts of money into smaller parts through counters and e-channels.

The branches and foreign exchange administration departments of the SAFE shall, upon receipt of this Circular, forward it immediately to the sub-branches, urban commercial banks, rural commercial banks, and foreign-funded banks within their jurisdictions. The designated Chinese-funded foreign exchange banks shall, upon receipt of this Circular, forward it immediately to their branches. If there are any problems arising from implementation of this Circular, please provide feedback on the relevant problems to the SAFE in a timely manner.

Tel.: (Business) 010-68402449, 68402152
        (Technology) 010-68402377

                                                                                         January 19, 2011