Rules on control of terrorism financing requiring banks to report any suspicious transactions to the financial authorities were released with immediate effect yesterday.

Any deal suspected of being related to terrorism shall be reported within 10 days to the China Anti-Money Laundering Monitoring and Analysis Center, the special arm of the central bank for fighting money laundering.

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Reports related to terrorist organizations and activists listed by Chinese organizations and the United Nations Security Council shall be made regardless of the amount of money or value of assets, the People's Bank of China said on its website.

Financial institutions face penalties if they fail to follow the rules. They could have their business suspended or license revoked.

Board members, high-ranking managers or other staff directly involved in such crimes can have their professional licenses revoked and be barred from working in the industry.

The rules are an extension of the country's anti-money-laundering law, which was enacted last year and took effect this year.

That law marked a decisive step for China to join the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) - the 33-member inter-governmental body that promotes and coordinates global fight against money laundering. The FATF completed its assessment of China's entry late last year and is expected to vote on it this month.