The People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank, is piloting cash management after gathering feedback for the past seven months, as personal withdrawals of more than 100,000 yuan ($14,132) should be registered to combat money laundering.
The central bank said in a notice on Wednesday it will start in Hebei, Zhejiang provinces and the city of Shenzhen in Guangdong Province, and will last two years.
The notice said public accounts must register deposits and withdrawals over 500,000 yuan, and limits on personal accounts range from 100,000 yuan in North China’s Hebei Province, 300,000 yuan in East China’s Zhejiang Province, and 200,000 yuan in Shenzhen, South China’s Guangdong Province.
The Xinhua News Agency reported in November 2019 that large amounts of cash were easily used by illegal criminal activities such as corruption, tax evasion, and money laundering, which involved certain risks, citing people from the central bank.
The report said these three regions were chosen because large-scale cash management in Hebei has a good foundation. Zhejiang and Shenzhen are key areas for using cash, especially in some industries in Zhejiang, and the cross-border flow of RMB between Shenzhen and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is common.
A view of the PBC’s headquarters in Beijing Photo: cnsphoto
