China expands pilot regions to deepen its commitment to opening-up

China has expanded its pilot regions of cross-border trade and investment facilitation as the country seeks to deepen high-standard opening-up, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said on Friday.

With foreign exchange facilitation measures having achieved good results in the pilot areas launched in 2022, SAFE said it has decided to implement the measures in the entire area of Shanghai, Jiangsu province, Guangdong province, Beijing, Zhejiang province and Hainan province.

In the pilot areas, qualified banks can directly handle special foreign exchange refund transactions related to goods trade for quality enterprises, without the need to register with the foreign exchange regulator in advance, the administration said.

The requirement of registration with the foreign exchange regulator is also removed for foreign-invested companies' reinvestment in enterprises within the pilot areas.

Qualified non-financial enterprises that raise external debt or go public overseas are eligible to directly handle the relevant registration procedures at banks.