The branches and foreign exchange administrative departments of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) in all provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government, the SAFE branches in Shenzhen, Dalian, Qingdao, Xiamen, and Ningbo; and the commercial administrative departments of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government, cities with independent budgetary status, and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps; Guangdong Customs and all customs directly under the General Administration of Customs; and all designated Chinese-funded foreign exchange banks:
In order to strengthen inspection of the authenticity and conformity of export trade transactions and foreign exchange collection and settlement, the SAFE, the Ministry of Commerce, and the General Administration of Customs jointly worked out the "Measures for the Online Inspection of Foreign Exchange Collection and Settlement of Export Proceeds" (shortened as "the Measures" in the following), which will be implemented as of July 14, 2008.
We hereby print and distribute the Measures for your earnest implementation, and for forwarding to the relevant departments within your jurisdiction. In case any problems are encountered during enforcement, please send timely feedback to the SAFE, the Ministry of Commerce, and the General Administration of Customs.
Contact Number:
Current Account Management Department of the SAFE: (010)68402450
Capital Account Management Department: 010 68402163
Information Center: 010 68402499
Finance Department of the Ministry of Commerce: 010 65197680
Supervision and Inspection Department of the GACC: 010 65195375
65195942
Department of Science and Technology: 010 65194852
China Electronic Port Data Center: 010 8519377913911026803

State Administration of Foreign Exchange
Ministry of Commerce
General Administration of Customs
          July 2, 2008

Annex:  "Measures for the Online Inspection of Foreign Exchange Collection and Settlement of Export Proceeds"
Article 1 In order to improve the administration of foreign exchange collection and settlement of export proceeds under the item of trade in goods by enterprises and to intensify the inspection of the authenticity and conformity of export transactions and foreign exchange collection and settlement, these Measures are promulgated in accordance with the "Regulations on the Foreign Exchange System of the People's Republic of China."
Article 2  Foreign exchange collection and settlement of export proceeds shall be made based on legal and genuine transactions, and shall be subject to the online inspection of electronic export data through the online inspection system for foreign exchange collection and settlement of export proceeds (hereinafter referred to as the inspection system, website: http: // www. chinaport.gov.cn).
Article 3 On the basis of the relevant data in an enterprise's customs declarations for goods export and the data furnished by the foreign exchange administration regarding the advance receipts for goods acquired by the enterprise and in consideration of the trade type of the enterprise as well as the industrial features, the inspection system will generate the receivable amount of foreign exchange corresponding to the exports of the enterprise.
Article 4  The foreign exchange that an enterprise collects (including advance receipts for goods, the same below) shall first be put into the to-be-checked account of the foreign exchange account of export proceeds which is opened in the name of the enterprise at a bank (hereinafter referred to as the to-be-checked account). The range of incomes and payments for the said account shall be specified by the SAFE.
Article 5 After the foreign exchange collection of export proceeds is put into the to-be-checked account, when sales or transfers of foreign exchange are needed, the enterprise shall faithfully fill in the Instructions for Foreign Exchange Collection of Export Proceeds (see Annex) and submit it to the bank for processing along with the operator IC card of the China Electronic Port.
The bank shall log onto the inspection system with its own IC operator card, conduct an online inspection of the enterprise's foreign exchange collection of export proceeds and shall, in pursuance of these Measures, deal with the sales or transfers of foreign exchange within the receivable amount of foreign exchange corresponding to the exports and simultaneously verify and reduce the receivable amount of foreign exchange corresponding to the exports. The bank shall not deal with the sales and transfers of foreign exchange that exceed the receivable amount of foreign exchange corresponding to the exports by the enterprise as indicated in the inspection system.
Article 6  The receivable amount of foreign exchange under the item of other trade such as general trade, processing trade with imported materials, petty border trade, and exports for contracted foreign projects shall be determined on the basis of the total sum of export goods transactions on the Custom Declaration Forms.
The receivable amount of foreign exchange under the item of processing trade with imported materials shall be determined on the basis of the total sum of transactions of the export product on the Custom Declarations Forms and the proportion of foreign exchange collected.
The receivable amount of foreign exchange under the item of advance receipts shall be determined by reference to the enterprise's register of advance receipts following the relevant regulations for administration of the external debt and in combination with the foreign exchange collected by the enterprise from exports and the industrial features, etc. The advance foreign exchange receipts of the enterprise under the item of export buyer's credit shall be incorporated into the management of the receivable amount of foreign exchange as advance receipts of the enterprise.
Article 7 After foreign exchange that is not subject to customs declarations is collected from exports and is put into the to-be-checked account, if the enterprise needs to settle or transfer foreign exchange out of the account, it shall submit the original foreign income declaration form stamped with the bank's official business seal and mail it to the bank with the cargo list and the vouchers and certificates specified in Article 5 of these Measures. The bank shall log into the inspection system to record the corresponding declaration number of the foreign income and the amount of foreign currency collected.
For commissioned agent business, the agent shall be responsible for the export and collection of foreign exchange.  The foreign exchange collected by an agent shall be subject to the online inspection system in accordance with these Measures.  If it is necessary to transfer the original foreign exchange to the principal, the said funds shall be transferred after online inspection of the current online account of the agent, and then be handled following the relevant regulations for the "Administration of Foreign Exchange Transfers within China." When the principal receives the original foreign exchange transferred by the agent, it shall not put the said foreign exchange in  its to-be-checked account, nor will it be subject to online inspection in accordance with these Measures.
The foreign exchange collection and settlement under the item of trade financing, such as export documentary bills, forfeiting without recourse, and export factoring, shall be subject to the online inspection following the regulations in these Measures.
Article 8  In cases when an enterprise applies to return or compensate abroad any foreign exchange collected from exports for whatever reason, the return and compensation of the foreign exchange shall be handled in line with the relevant regulations concerning compensation of foreign exchange in the "Measures for the Administration of Verification of Foreign Exchange Collection of Export Proceeds specified by the SAFE."
Article 9 In consideration of its business requirements, a bank or an enterprise may apply for an operator IC card at the local China E-port Data Card Manufacturing Sub-center to acquire the corresponding authorization. An enterprise may use its operator IC card to log into the inspection system and to inquire about the receivable amount of foreign exchange corresponding to the exports.
Article 10 The SAFE shall strengthen onsite examination and offsite surveillance of the handling of foreign exchange collection and settlement of export proceeds by banks and enterprises. Those in violation of the relevant regulations on foreign exchange administration shall be punished in accordance with the "Regulations on the Foreign Exchange System of the People's Republic of China"and other relevant provisions. The administrative departments of the Ministry of Commerce shall strengthen management of the records of foreign trade operation rights, accelerate the regulation and development of foreign trade, and punish violations of the foreign trade administrative provisions in accordance with the relevant laws and regulations. The Customs shall further strengthen supervision over export goods, standardize enterprise export declarations, and impose a penalty on those violating the customs laws in accordance with the "Customs Law of the People's Republic of China" and the "Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Implementing Customs Administrative Penalties."
Article 11 These Measures shall apply to foreign exchange collection of export proceeds by individuals with foreign trade operation rights and foreign exchange collection of export proceeds by enterprises engaging in non-bonded cargo within bonded areas.
Article 12 The SAFE, the Ministry of Commerce, and the General Administration of Customs are responsible for interpretation of these Measures.
Article 13 These Measures will come into force as of July 14, 2008. In cases where prior provisions are inconsistent with these Measures, these Measures shall prevail.