Financial In-Depth | Greater Convenience: A Package of New Foreign‑Exchange Measures Benefits Cross‑Border Trade

A set of nine facilitation measures across three domains has been issued to accelerate, simplify and smooth foreign‑exchange settlement for foreign‑trade enterprises. On October 29, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange published a notice introducing these measures to further ease cross‑border trade receipts and payments and to improve the quality and effectiveness of foreign‑exchange services that support stable foreign‑trade development.

The policy expands pilot coverage and broadens eligible transaction types. SAFE has continued to advance a “the more compliant, the more convenient” foreign‑exchange framework and launched a high‑level pilot for cross‑border trade openness in 2022 to reduce documentation and streamline procedures for current‑account foreign‑exchange transactions, thereby raising settlement efficiency for compliant firms. The pilot has grown to 11 jurisdictions and has processed roughly USD 1.7 trillion in pilot transactions to date. The recent expansion of pilot regions has raised expectations among many enterprises. A representative of Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable Joint Stock Limited Company indicated that inclusion could free up more than RMB 100 million annually in working capital, lower operating costs and assist overseas expansion. In addition to geographical widening, the measures extend the types of transactions eligible for netting, allowing trade receivables to be offset against associated service fees and thereby reducing the frequency and cost of cross‑border remittances. Service items arising from goods trade—such as freight, warehousing, maintenance, insurance and customs charges—can be netted with goods payments, markedly improving trade settlement efficiency.

The measures further facilitate settlement for new trade formats. Cross‑border e‑commerce and other emerging trade models have rapidly expanded and increasingly support stable volume and improved structure in foreign trade. Preliminary customs data show that cross‑border e‑commerce goods imports and exports totaled about RMB 2.06 trillion in the first three quarters of this year, up 6.4% year‑on‑year. To ensure small and medium‑sized enterprises participating in these new models benefit from settlement conveniences, the policy encourages banks to leverage the credibility of compliant cross‑border e‑commerce platforms and integrated foreign‑trade service providers when extending credit and selecting enterprises for preferential treatment. The measures also permit banks to shift from traditional document‑based review to electronic processing based on orders and logistics information provided by integrated service firms, enabling online automatic handling of cross‑border e‑commerce receipts and payments. Banks are guided to strengthen service orientation, proactively adapt to the demands of higher‑level trade openness, and apply a substance‑over‑form approach to expand service offerings and efficiently manage personalized and complex current‑account foreign‑exchange operations.

The package improves operational efficiency for service‑trade enterprises and enhances overseas project fund management. China’s service trade has expanded rapidly and now ranks second globally in scale. SAFE’s “China International Balance of Payments Report for the First Half of 2025” shows service‑trade imports and exports for the first half of 2025 reached USD 509.1 billion, a year‑on‑year increase of 6%. Firms contracting overseas engineering projects constitute an important segment of service trade and have a strong demand to centralize and manage offshore funds. The new rules permit contractors to centrally manage funds for multiple projects within the same country or region and extend this flexibility to permit centralized allocation and use across different countries and projects.

At Chancay Port in Peru, operations monitoring by COSCO Shipping Ports Peru Chancay Company staff illustrates the operational context for such measures. A representative of Power Construction Corporation of China’s international engineering unit stated that the policy addresses uneven distribution of overseas project funds, reduces reliance on external financing, and facilitates coordinated management of exchange‑rate exposure. The company estimates the measures could lower overseas capital tied up by about RMB 500 million and cut annual foreign‑exchange losses by roughly RMB 30 million, thereby improving competitiveness in overseas markets. The new rules also relax management of agency payments in service trade, simplify settlement procedures and clarify that domestic firms and their counterparties may process transportation, warehousing and maintenance fees directly through banks.

High‑level opening has become a significant driver of China’s economic development. As deeper reforms in the foreign‑exchange domain proceed, additional measures to facilitate cross‑border trade and investment are expected to follow, creating broader opportunities for market participants to engage in global economic cooperation.