Chinese regulators are stamping out moves by banks to shift renminbi out of the country as they attack one of the few loopholes remaining in the country’s strict new capital controls regime.
The tightening is another setback for the Chinese government’s wider strategy of internationalising its currency — a goal that has taken a back seat to stabilising capital outflows and the renminbi’s depreciation against the dollar.
According to several people briefed on rules introduced this month, banks in Shanghai must “import” Rmb100 for every Rmb100 they allow a client to remit overseas, ensuring no net outflows of the Chinese currency. The banks had been allowed to remit Rmb160 overseas for every Rmb100 they brought back into China.