中国加强资本管制 遏制资本外流

China is ratcheting up ad hoc capital controls to stem accelerating capital outflows, with banks restricting dollar purchases amid fierce demand from households and companies.

中国正在加强临时资本管制，以遏制不断加快的资本外流。面对家庭和企业换汇需求高涨的局面，中国的银行纷纷对购买美元做出限制。

The foreign exchange regulator has provided verbal guidance to banks in Shenzhen instructing them to limit dollar buying by individual and corporate clients, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.

知情人士表示，中国国家外汇管理局(SAFE)已向深圳的银行做出口头指示，要求它们对个人和企业购买美元做出限制。

The official Shanghai Securities News cited client managers at banks in Shenzhen including Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Bank of China as saying that demand for US and Hong Kong dollars had increased sharply since the start of the year. Chinese residents are permitted to buy up to $50,000 annually, with the quota resetting at the beginning of the calendar year.

官方的《上海证券报》援引中国工商银行(ICBC)和中国银行(BoC)等银行的客户经理的话称，近期能明显感受到客户旺盛的换汇需求。中国居民换汇额度为每人每年等值5万美元，每个日历年的年初换汇额度会更新。

China’s foreign exchange reserves declined by a record $108bn in December, a sign of accelerating capital outflow and the central bank’s spending to support the renminbi exchange rate.

去年12月，中国外汇储备降幅达到创纪录的1080亿美元，说明资本外流在加速、而中国央行在动用外储支撑人民币汇率。

The latest tightening comes after the central bank temporarily suspended some foreign banks in China, including Standard Chartered, Deutsche Bank and Singapore’s DBS, from conducting certain foreign exchange transactions designed to arbitrage the gap between the onshore and offshore renminbi exchange rates. All three banks declined to comment.

最近的加强管制举措出台前，中国央行暂时叫停了渣打银行(Standard Chartered)、德意志银行(Deutsche Bank)和新加坡星展银行(DBS)等一些外资银行从事的某些外汇交易，这些交易旨在利用在岸和离岸人民币的汇率差进行套利。上述三家外资银行均拒绝置评。

Until the renminbi’s trading range was widened in 2014, appreciation was virtually uninterrupted. But Chinese households are now more eager to sell their renminbi and diversify their currency holdings.

2014年人民币汇率交易区间被扩大之前，人民币的升值几乎从未中断。但如今，中国家庭更渴望卖出人民币，实现所持币种的多元化。

Online foreign exchange settlement at multiple banks have suffered temporary outages or slow response times as demand from retail customers overwhelms their capacity, Shanghai Securities News reported.

《上海证券报》报道称，由于突然涌现的个人集中使用网银购汇，有的银行甚至曝出网银系统故障、运转缓慢等问题。

At a mid-sized bank in Shanghai, customers are restricted to buying $5,000 in foreign exchange per day unless they make an appointment in advance and $10,000 per day if they do, with no more than three appointments allowed per week, the paper reported.

该报报道称，在上海的一家中型银行，办理购汇业务，5000美元以下可以直接兑换，超过5000美元则需要提前进行预约。而且一次最多允许购汇1万美元，一星期最多只能购汇三次。

A Beijing-based finance executive said SAFE had been in “regular discussions” with foreign banks over the past month. “They are basically trying to make sure that banks are not helping speculators with leverage,” the executive said. “If your client needs three months’ trade finance but borrows one or two years’ worth of forex, is that legitimate hedging?”

北京一位金融业高管表示，过去一个月里，外管局一直在与外资银行“定期讨论”。“他们基本上是在努力确保银行不会帮助投机者添杠杆。”这位高管表示，“如果你的客户需要三个月贸易融资、却借入能用一两年的外汇，那是合法的对冲吗？”

SAFE did not immediately respond to a fax requesting comment on Friday afternoon.

上周五下午，外管局未立即回复一份请求其置评的传真。