China shuts down $7.3bn illegal forex operation

01/03/2017 05:33 AST

China said it has broken up an underground banking operation that conducted $7.3 billion in illegal foreign-currency transfers, trumpeting the bust as a sign of its resolve in stemming massive capital flight.

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) said in a statement late Monday that it had investigated six companies suspected of illegal forex transfers in the southern city of Shenzhen.

An unspecified number of other firms were found to have used false documentation, fabricated trades and other methods to funnel money out of the country, the regulator said. These include “ant moving” — the process of transferring large sums of money out in small portions to avoid detection.

SAFE vowed that this year it would “strengthen foreign exchange market supervision and seriously attack foreign exchange violations in order to protect China’s international balance of payments.”

“At the same time, (we) will increase policy transparency and promote financial markets’ opening to the outside world.” In February, SAFE approved $89.2 billion in investments by Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors in the country’s onshore financial market as of Feb. 24, it said, up from $87.31 billion in January.

‘Economy faces global uncertainties’ China’s economy faces risks from international uncertainties and excess factory capacity this year, the statistics bureau said on Tuesday.

The world’s second-largest economy grew 6.7 percent last year, easing from the pace in 2015 but roughly in the middle of the government’s target range of 6.5-7 percent.

Yet, even as China’s exports are finally showing signs of recovering after a multi-year slump, the outlook for global demand is being clouded by a feared rise in US trade protectionism. “The international situation is still complex and volatile, there are still many uncertainties and there are contradictions between domestic overcapacity and structural upgrading,” Li Xiaochao, vice head of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), said in a statement posted on the agency’s website.

China far exceeded its targets to reduce bloated industrial overcapacity last year by forcing the closure of many inefficient steel plants and coalmines.

It has earmarked further reductions for 2017, though market watchers say much of the outdated operations are being replaced with leaner and cleaner ones, doing little to reduce overcapacity and the threat of oversupply.

Li also said maintaining mild inflation will be favorable for China’s economy, as price pressures start to build again globally after years of weakness.

Consumer inflation accelerated to 2.5 percent in January from a year earlier, the highest for a month since May 2014, while producer price inflation accelerated to 6.9 percent — the fastest since August 2011 — as a construction boom fueled demand for materials from steel to cement.

Arab News