汇发[1998]105号
(Issued by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on 21 December 1998 and effective as of 1 January 1999.)
颁布日期：19981221 　实施日期：19990101 　颁布单位：国家外汇管理局

　　Following the official introduction of the euro on 1 January 1999, the original currencies of the countries in the euro area ("European Currencies") will be used concurrently¹ with the euro during a three-year transition period. On the basis of China's Administration of Foreign Exchange Accounts Inside China Provisions, Retaining of Limited Amounts of Foreign Exchange Revenue by Wholly Chinese-owned Enterprises Operating Rules, Administration of Foreign Exchange Accounts Outside China Provisions and other relevant exchange control regulations and with reference to the basic principles for use of the euro during the transition period, the following circular on relevant exchange control issues arising from the introduction of the euro is issued, so as to ensure that organizations in China can smoothly² carry on business with the euro and to facilitate the business operations of enterprises.

　　1. Administration of Foreign Exchange Accounts Relating to Current Account Items

　　(1) Account-holders (wholly Chinese-owned enterprises in China, foreign investment enterprises and foreign establishments in China) which have already opened accounts in European Currencies may approach their bank to either change the currency of their original accounts to the euro or open a euro account while retaining their original European Currency accounts. When an account-holder applies for an account, it shall submit an application for change to a euro account or opening of a euro account. Beforehand, the account-holders shall carry out account modification³ and recordal procedures with the foreign exchange administrations on the strength of the Approval Document for Opening of a Foreign Exchange Account and the Foreign Exchange Account Use Permit for the original European Currency account (in the case of wholly Chinese-owned enterprises in China), or on the strength of the Foreign Exchange Account Opening Notice for a Foreign Investment Enterprise and the Foreign Exchange Registration⁴ Certificate for a Foreign Investment Enterprise (in the case of foreign investment enterprises) or on the strength of the Foreign Exchange Account Recordal Form for a Foreign Establishment in China (in the case of foreign establishments in China). The foreign exchange administrations shall modify the currency on the Approval Document for Opening of a Foreign Exchange Account, the Foreign Exchange Account Opening Notice for a Foreign Investment Enterprise, the Foreign Exchange Registration Certificate for a Foreign Investment Enterprise and the Foreign Exchange Account Recordal Form for a Foreign Establishment in China, record the opening of the account and issue a Euro Account Opening Notice (see the Annex) to the account-holders. The account-holders shall carry out euro account changeover or opening procedures with their account-providing financial institutions on the strength of the Euro Account Opening Notice and deliver the written acknowledgment of opening of the account to the foreign exchange administrations within 10 working days after the opening of the account (foreign investment enterprises shall not be required to deliver the written acknowledgment of opening of the account to the foreign exchange administrations). The foreign exchange administrations shall carry out for the account-holders the procedures for change of the relevant particulars of the Foreign Exchange Account Use Permit and the Foreign Exchange Account Recordal Form for a Foreign Establishment in China on the strength of the written acknowledgment of opening of the account.

　　Except for the difference in currency, the basic particulars of newly opened euro accounts and the original accounts, such as the nature of the account, the scope of payments into and out of the account, the term of use, the maximum amount, the method of exchange settlement, etc. shall be completely consistent. If the original European Currency account is subject to a determined⁵ maximum balance, the account-holder's newly opened euro account may be used in tandem⁶ with the original account up to such maximum amount, and the total of the balances of the two accounts may not exceed the maximum amount determined for the original account. If the original European Currency account is subject to a determined maximum amount of aggregate⁷ receipts, the account-holder's newly opened euro account may be used in tandem with the original account up to the determined maximum amount, and the total of the aggregate receipts of the two accounts may not exceed the maximum amount of aggregate receipts determined for the original account.

　　If a euro account needs to be opened other than under the circumstances described above, verification procedures shall be carried out in accordance with the current regulations for the administration of foreign exchange accounts.

　　(2) If any account-holder which has already opened two or more European Currency accounts of the same nature needs to change the original European Currency accounts to a euro account or to open a euro account while retaining the original accounts, it shall carry out account modification and recordal procedures with the foreign exchange administration by the method set forth⁸ above. Either all the original European Currency accounts shall be changed to one euro account only, or one euro account shall be opened while retaining all the original European Currency accounts. The basic particulars of the euro account opened, such as the nature of the account, the scope of payments into and out of the account, the term of use, the maximum amount, the method of exchange settlement, etc. shall cover the basic particulars of all the original European Currency accounts.

　　(3) When a bonded⁹ zone enterprise wishes to change its original European Currency account into a euro account or open a new euro account while retaining its European Currency account, it shall directly handle the matter with its account-providing financial institution on the strength of the Bonded Zone Foreign Exchange Registration Certificate. The account-providing financial institution shall note the matter in, and affix¹⁰ its seal to, the appropriate column of the Bonded Zone Foreign Exchange Registration Certificate.

　　(4) If the currency of a non-European Currency account needs to be changed to the euro, verification procedures shall be carried out in accordance with the current regulations for the administration of foreign exchange accounts.

　　(5) If the currency of a European Currency foreign exchange account opened outside China with the approval of a foreign exchange administration needs to be changed to the euro or if a euro account needs to be opened while retaining such original account, account modification and recordal procedures shall be carried out with a foreign exchange administration in advance.

　　(6) If the foreign exchange account of an individual, or an expatriate in China, is an account for deposit of inward remittances¹¹, the account-providing financial institution may change the currency to the euro or open a new euro account, at the option of the depositor. If the currency of a foreign currency cash account needs to be changed to the euro, the matter shall be handled in accordance with the Administration of Foreign Exchange of Individual Residents Within China Tentative Procedures.

　　2. Administration of Foreign Exchange Accounts Relating to Capital Account Items

　　(1) Foreign exchange debt accounts (loan accounts and loan repayment¹² accounts):

　　Any organizations in China which have opened a European Currency loan account or loan repayment account prior to 1 January 1999 may change the currency of the original account to the euro, or open a euro account while retaining the European Currency account, with the original account-providing bank. Beforehand, such organizations in China shall carry out account modification and recordal procedures with the foreign exchange administrations on the strength of the approval document for the original European Currency account, the foreign debt or (on-lent) foreign exchange loan registration certificate and the written application for changeover to, or opening of, a euro account. The organizations in China shall carry out euro account changeover or opening procedures with their account-providing financial institutions on the strength of the approval document for opening of the euro loan account or loan repayment account issued by the foreign exchange administrations, and deliver the proof of cancellation¹³ of the European Currency account and the written acknowledgment of opening of the euro account to the foreign exchange administrations, for the record, within 10 working days after the opening of the account.

　　(2) Capital contribution accounts of foreign investment enterprises:

　　Any foreign investment enterprises which have already opened a European Currency capital contribution account may change the currency of the original account to the euro, or open a euro account while retaining the European Currency account, with the original account-providing bank. Beforehand, the foreign investment enterprises shall carry out account modification and recordal procedures with the foreign exchange administrations on the strength of the Account Opening Notice for the original European Currency account, the Foreign Exchange Registration Certificate for a Foreign Investment Enterprise and the written application for changeover of the original account or opening of a euro account. The foreign investment enterprises shall carry out euro account changeover or opening procedures with their account-providing financial institutions on the strength of the Account Opening Notice issued by the foreign exchange administrations. The account-providing financial institutions shall note the currency and number of the account and the opening date on the Foreign Exchange Registration Certificate for a Foreign Investment Enterprise and affix its seal thereto.

　　If a euro account needs to be opened other than under the circumstances described above, verification procedures shall be carried out in accordance with the current regulations for the administration of foreign exchange accounts. The handling by foreign exchange administrations of the said account modification and recordal procedures for accounts relating to current account items and those relating to capital account items shall not be part of their examination and approval business, and shall be carried out immediately upon application by the account-holder.

　　3. Foreign Debt Quotas¹⁴

　　Any project units of projects which have been approved by relevant State authorities and take out foreign loans shall, for the term of the approval document, be permitted by the foreign exchange administrations to borrow euros regardless of which freely convertible¹⁵ currency is the approved currency.

　　4. Statistical¹⁶ Statements

　　(1) Statistical statements on foreign debts:

　　When organizations in China which have taken out foreign loans denominated in a European Currency enter the currency thereof in the form for the statistical monitoring of foreign debts, they shall enter the original European Currency. When our new system for the statistical monitoring of foreign debts has been formally put into operation, the debtors¹⁷ will be separately notified that they should all deliver euro statements to the foreign exchange administrations instead of the original European Currency statements. When organizations in China which take out new foreign loans denominated in euros after 1 January 1999 enter the currency thereof in the statements concerning execution of agreements, statements concerning changes, etc., they shall enter the euro.

　　(2) Statements for the statistical reporting of international receipts and payments:

　　All types of statistical statements currently used in the statistical reporting of international receipts and payments shall continue to be completed and submitted according to the currencies of the transactions. When reporting on international receipt or payment transactions which occurred in euros, the financial institutions shall provisionally use the code for European currency units, until we notify the currency code for the euro.

　　5. Quoted Exchange Rate of the Euro

　　Following the introduction of the euro, designated foreign exchange banks may independently decide to add the quoted exchange rate of the euro against the Renminbi and to abolish the quoted exchange rate of the former European currency unit against the Renminbi. To facilitate the use of exchange rates by organizations in China during the euro's transition period, we recommend that designated foreign exchange banks also quote the exchange rate of the currency of each euro area state against the Renminbi when adding the quoted exchange rate of the euro against the Renminbi. When designated foreign exchange banks determine the quoted exchange rate of the Renminbi against the euro, the spread of the buying and selling rates for foreign exchange remittances shall not exceed 0.5%.

　　6. Additional Announcement of a Unified¹⁸ Internal Translation Rate for the Euro Against the U.S. Dollar

　　In the Table of Unified Internal Translation Rates Against the U.S. Dollar issued by this office, the internal translation rate for the euro against the U.S. dollar will be added and the former internal translation rate for the European currency unit against the U.S. dollar will be abolished, while retaining the original internal translation rates for each country's currency against the U.S. dollar. As the market rate of the euro can be generated only after the euro's official introduction, the January 1999 Table of Unified Internal Translation Rates Against the U.S. Dollar, which is formulated¹⁹ at the end of 1998, cannot yet announce the translation rate for the euro against the U.S. dollar. The said rate will be notified in a separate document after the euro is officially introduced on 1 January 1999.

　　7. Changes in the International Financial Market Quotations²⁰ List and the International Foreign Exchange Market Quotations List

　　Following the introduction of the euro, the rate of exchange between the European currency unit and the U.S. dollar in the International Foreign Exchange Market Quotations List provided by us will be replaced by the rate of exchange between the euro and the U.S. dollar; and in the International Financial Market Quotations List, the inter-bank offered rates for the German mark and the European currency unit will be abolished, while the inter-bank offered rate for the euro will be announced.

　　This Circular shall be implemented²¹ as of 1 January 1999. Upon receipt of this Circular, you are requested to forward it as soon as possible to the branches and sub-branches of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, the financial institutions and the related units under your jurisdiction²². Please report any problems and recommendations during your implementation²³ hereof in a timely manner to our relevant operational department.