BEIJING TO SIMPLIFY FOREX REGULATIONS IN BID TO LIFT FDI

BEIJING - In a step towards deregulation and market reform, China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) has announced that it will abolish 24 clauses of foreign exchange regulation in a bid to facilitate and promote foreign direct investment, following a fall in FDI in the first quarter. The move pushes the RMB closer to being convertible under the capital account by simplifying transactions of local financial assets into foreign financial assets, and follows a previous round of FDI-related deregulation by SAFE in November last year.