Cross-border funds pilot to expand

China is poised to expand nationwide a pilot policy that helps multinational companies to centrally manage cross-border funds, both in renminbi and foreign currencies, officials and analysts said, marking a notable step forward in the country's financial opening-up.

The policy, seen as nearing implementation, will help ease capital flows for foreign and Chinese firms expanding overseas, and will benefit more medium-sized multinational firms, they said.

Li Bin, spokesperson and deputy head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, said the policy to support centralized cross-border fund management by multinational companies in renminbi and foreign currencies will be implemented nationwide.

"It will further improve capital turnover efficiency and lower corporate financial costs," Li said at a recent news conference.

Industry analysts said the remarks suggest that the rules on centralized cross-border fund management for multinational companies, for which public consultation was conducted last year, are close to formal implementation.

With a parallel program already in place for large multinational groups, the new policy rollout is expected to target medium-sized multinationals and form a nationwide, full-coverage framework for the cross-border cash pooling of MNCs in both renminbi and foreign currencies, marking progress in advancing capital account convertibility, they added.

In 2023, SAFE launched pilot programs in Beijing and Guangdong province, including Shenzhen, for centralized cross-border fund management, covering the renminbi and foreign currencies.

The pilots allowed medium-sized multinational groups to centrally manage quotas for external borrowing and outbound funding among member entities, improving corporate financial flexibility.

Companies were encouraged to conduct centralized cross-border fund operations in the renminbi. Filing procedures and documentation requirements for fund usage were also streamlined to reduce corporate compliance costs.

Lou Feipeng, a researcher at the Postal Savings Bank of China, said the pilot policy's national rollout will help improve the efficiency of multinational corporations in cash pooling, reallocating and converting funds, and reducing financing costs and exchange rate risks.

"For foreign-invested enterprises seeking to expand in China, the measures will enhance autonomy in fund management and strengthen operational resilience. For Chinese companies going global, they will facilitate the repatriation of overseas funds and improve global resource allocation."

He added that the policy is expected to feature moderate relaxations in areas such as fund transfers, foreign-exchange settlements and sales, reflecting a "prudent, orderly and risk-controllable" path toward financial opening-up.

According to the draft rules of the pilot's national rollout released in July last year, regulators will set quotas for external borrowing and outbound funding based on the net assets of MNCs' member companies.

Liu Chunsheng, an associate professor at the Central University of Finance and Economics, said that while previous policies mainly targeted large and mega multinational firms, the new one would extend coverage to medium-sized enterprises, signaling a more inclusive and comprehensive approach to capital-account convertibility.