China sets up 'green channel' for forex flows related to fight against coronavirus

China will set up a temporary "green channel" to facilitate foreign exchange flows related to the fight against the coronavirus epidemic, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said on Tuesday.

It urged all foreign exchange branches to launch emergency response mechanisms and temporarily simplify and relax some rules governing the foreign exchange administration.

If domestic departments and local governments need to import epidemic prevention and control materials, procedures for the purchase and payment of foreign exchanges should be simplified, the SAFE said.

Donation funds in foreign exchanges can go directly to the recipient's foreign exchange account under the current account while the existing policy requiring a separate donation foreign exchange account will be lifted during the fight against the epidemic, it said.

Procedures will be streamlined for enterprises in handling the settlement and payment of capital account income related to epidemic prevention and control, the SAFE said.

If it is necessary for preventing and controlling the epidemic, the limits of foreign debt borrowed by enterprises can be canceled, and foreign debt can be applied online to facilitate enterprises' cross-border financing.

For other special foreign exchange businesses related to epidemic prevention and control, banks can handle them first and then report them to the local foreign exchange bureaus for filing, it said.