The State Council recently issued the "Notice on the Promotion of the Replication and Promotion of Pilot Measures for the High-Standard Opening-Up of Free Trade Pilot Zones in Aligning with International Standards and Advancing Institutional Opening-Up." Several of the pilot measures being replicated and promoted in this initiative are related to the financial sector.

On the date, Ji Min, Deputy Director (Director-level) of the Research Bureau (Consultant Office) of the People's Bank of China, stated at a special press conference held by the Ministry of Commerce that the next step will be to promote the replication and promotion of pilot measures in the financial sector in four aspects, in accordance with the requirements of the notice.

One is to further guide the branches of the Free Trade Pilot Zone (Port) in areas such as new financial services pilot programs, market access, and cross-border purchase of financial services, optimizing work processes and improving work efficiency.

Second, further optimize cross-border RMB and foreign exchange management services, continue to advance the reform of commercial banks' cross-border business practices, shifting from primarily document review during transactions to strengthening due diligence before transactions and risk monitoring after transactions.

Third, in accordance with the principle of "mature one, replicate one," we will work on replicating and promoting the financial opening-up and innovation experiences from the pilot free trade zones (ports).

Four is to continuously improve the financial risk monitoring, assessment, early warning, and disposal mechanisms that match the financial openness of the free trade pilot zones (ports), ensuring the steady and orderly advancement of pilot measures.

Steadily expanding the institutional opening-up in the financial sector, including rules, regulations, management, and standards, is a key component in achieving institutional opening-up and systematic reform effectiveness in free trade pilot zones (ports), as well as the comprehensive improvement of the quality of an open economy.

Ji Min stated that over the past few years, the People's Bank of China has earnestly implemented the decisions and plans of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, adhering to the orientation of serving the real economy and promoting the convenience of trade and investment. In conjunction with advancing the pilot work of the first batch of free trade pilot zones (regions) to align with international high standards, it has cooperated with other departments to implement the following measures in financial reform and innovation within the free trade pilot zones (regions):

One is to support the high-level opening-up of the financial industry in the pilot free trade zones (ports). For example, foreign ownership restrictions in areas such as banking, securities, insurance, and fund management have been largely lifted; foreign institutions are granted national treatment in sectors such as corporate credit, rating, and payment. For instance, the People's Bank of China, in accordance with the principle of consistency between domestic and foreign entities, processes applications for payment and clearing service licenses based on its responsibilities, and in a certain month, issued a bank card clearing business license to the company Wanzhong Network.

Second, actively promote the innovation of cross-border RMB business in the Free Trade Pilot Zones (FTZs). Steadily develop cross-border two-way RMB fund pools, pilot programs for cross-border transfer of trade financing assets, and other businesses. The pilot of the unified bank settlement account system for both RMB and foreign currencies has been implemented and promoted nationwide in FTZs such as Shanghai and Beijing. Optimize the free trade account system. As of the end of the month, a total of . million accounts have been opened by various entities, with an account balance of over 100 billion yuan. In the month, multi-functional free trade accounts were introduced in the Hengqin Cooperation Zone in the Greater Bay Area and the Hainan Free Trade Port.

Third, we will continue to deepen the reform of foreign exchange management in the free trade pilot zones (FTZs). A series of innovative measures in foreign exchange management have been piloted in the FTZs and subsequently replicated and promoted nationwide. For example, the pilot areas for high-level opening-up in cross-border trade and investment have been expanded from four locations including the Lingang New Area of the Shanghai FTZ to cover the entire regions of Shanghai, Jiangsu, Guangdong (including Shenzhen), Beijing, Zhejiang (including Ningbo), and Hainan Province.

Fourth, while opening up, we will strengthen the financial safety net of the Free Trade Pilot Zone (Port). We will improve the macro-prudential management policy framework for full-scale cross-border financing, comprehensively considering factors such as currency, term, and net assets, to set upper limits on cross-border financing and prevent large inflows and outflows of funds. At the same time, we will enhance the monitoring and management of funds in the Free Trade Pilot Zone (Port) for "anti-money laundering, counter-terrorism financing, and anti-tax evasion."