Dazhong Daily:

The recommendations for the 15th Five-Year Plan have made important arrangements for financial and foreign exchange work over the next five years. This year marks the beginning of the 15th Five-Year Plan period. May I ask what the key areas of advancement in foreign exchange management work are? Thank you.

Li Bin:

Thank you for your question. I'll answer that. The CPC Central Committee's recommendations for the 15th Five-Year Plan have made important arrangements for advancing financial and foreign exchange work over the next five years. The year 2026 marks the beginning of the 15th Five-Year Plan period. The SAFE will better balance both development and security, while continuing to build a foreign exchange management system that is more convenient, open, secure and smart. Specifically, this can be summarized as focusing on three key areas of work and continuously improving two types of capabilities.

First, we will uphold the fundamental purpose of financial services supporting the real economy, continue to deepen foreign exchange facilitation reforms, and enhance the vitality and momentum of high-quality development. We will continue to optimize foreign exchange management for trade and expand pilot programs for high-level opening-up in cross-border trade and investment in an orderly manner. We will strengthen support for new forms of trade, such as cross-border e-commerce and market procurement trade, and support payment institutions and banks in automatically processing electronic transaction information in batches to facilitate related fund settlements. With a focus on supporting technological innovation and green development, we will continue to advance the five major areas of finance. We will advance the development of cross-border financial service platforms, expand new application scenarios, and provide enterprises with more intelligent, efficient, safe and convenient foreign exchange services. We will enhance foreign exchange services for individuals and further improve the convenience of foreign exchange use for foreign nationals coming to China and internationally-engaged employees of enterprises.

Second, we will continue to promote high-standard opening up, steadily expand opening up in the foreign exchange sector, and promote win-win cooperation. We will coordinate efforts to promote the internationalization of the RMB and the high-quality opening up of the capital account, and deepen forex management reforms in areas such as foreign direct investment, securities investment, and cross-border financing. Next, we will introduce policies on overseas lending and the management of domestic foreign exchange loan funds to better support enterprises in "going global" and the development of foreign trade. We will implement the policy of centralized cross-border operation and management of domestic and foreign currency funds for multinational companies nationwide, further improving capital turnover efficiency and reducing corporate financial costs. We will support the development of Shanghai and Hong Kong as international financial centers, and upgrade forex management policies for high-level opening platforms such as pilot free trade zones and the Hainan Free Trade Port. At the same time, we will continuously enhance the foreign exchange business capabilities of financial institutions, continue to deepen the reform of banks' foreign exchange business, steadily expand the coverage of reforms, ensure integration with facilitation policies under the current account and capital account and better integration of policies to provide more convenience for enterprises and banks. We will continue to improve the operation and management of foreign exchange reserves, and make every effort to ensure the safety, liquidity, and value preservation and appreciation of foreign exchange reserve assets.

Third, we will adhere to the principles of both "dynamic deregulation" and "effective regulation" to promote the development of the foreign exchange market, enhance open regulatory capabilities, and ensure sound operation of the foreign exchange market. We need to further improve exchange rate risk management, guide financial institutions to develop simple and easy-to-use exchange rate hedging products, reduce exchange rate hedging costs for micro, small, and medium enterprises, and continuously improve the services of foreign exchange market infrastructure. We will strengthen balanced macroeconomic governance and expectations when necessary, based on new development, support the financial safety net for the foreign exchange market, and effectively ensure sound operation of the foreign exchange market. At the same time, we will further improve foreign exchange regulation, deepen the development of off-site regulating capabilities, strengthen the analysis of abnormal channels and clues, and continuously crack down on illegal cross-border financial activities.

While carrying out the above work, we will continuously enhance two aspects of our capabilities. First, we will focus on ensuring the mechanism for transmission and implementation of foreign exchange policies, place greater emphasis on improving policy implementation, enhance dynamic evaluation of "foreign exchange policy performance" and "regional foreign exchange ecology," and strive to achieve a closed cycle of management from policy formulation to the "last mile" of policy delivery. This will make them accessible and tangible for enterprises and residents and truly benefit businesses and the public. Second, we will strengthen technological empowerment, steadily explore the development of "smart foreign exchange administration," continuously improve the digitalization and intelligence of forex administration and services, and enhance the effectiveness, as well as the experience and friendliness of foreign exchange services. That's all for your question. Thank you.