China caps overseas withdrawals using domestic cards at 100,000 yuan

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China’s foreign exchange regulator will cap overseas withdrawals using domestic Chinese bank cards at 100,000 yuan (15,370 US dollars) per year in an effort to target money laundering, financing of terrorists and tax evasion, it said on Saturday.

The new rules will come into effect on January 1, 2018.

Individuals who exceed the annual quota will be suspended from overseas transactions for the remainder of the year and an additional year, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) said in a notice posted on its website.

Under the new rules, SAFE will submit a daily list of individuals banned from making bank card withdrawals abroad, and banks must suspend the users by no later than 5 p.m. the same day, the notice said.

VCG Photo

Domestic card users will also be barred from withdrawing more than 10,000 yuan a day overseas, it said.

China has strengthened regulatory oversight of overseas card transactions in the past year, targeting illegal cross-border transfers and money laundering.

In September SAFE started requiring Chinese banks to report daily their bank card holders’ overseas withdrawals as well as every transaction exceeding 1,000 yuan.

China’s foreign exchange reserves rose for the tenth straight month in November due to tighter regulation and a stronger yuan, which continue to discourage capital outflows.