The Information Office is scheduled to hold a regular policy briefing at 4 p.m. on Thursday, December 28, 2023, at which Zhang Qingsong, Deputy Governor of the People's Bank of China, and relevant responsible persons of the Ministry of Justice introduced the Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of Non-bank Payment Institutions and answered questions from reporters. Live broadcast on China.com, the following is the transcript:
China** reporter: The Chinese people generally like and are accustomed to using mobile payment, while overseas people in China mostly use bank cards and cash and other payment methods, which is not suitable for the situation. What has been done to facilitate the payment of overseas personnel to China?Thank you.
Zhang Qingsong: I'm here to answer your question, thank you again for your question. The People's Bank of China attaches great importance to the facilitation of payment for overseas personnel coming to China and has carefully analyzed the causes of the problem. From the perspective of the evolution of global retail payment tools, the inconvenience of some overseas people to China is largely due to the fact that their payment habits are different from each other at different stages. As you pointed out, we are all very accustomed to mobile payment, but many overseas people in China, especially those from Europe and the United States, are still accustomed to using bank cards and cash, and their payment habits are inertial. Therefore, we must solve this problem of inconvenience for foreigners to pay in China due to the difference in payment and habits between the two sides.
In order to solve this problem, the People's Bank of China, in conjunction with relevant departments, has established a special working mechanism, issued guiding opinions, and is organizing all units to advance various tasks in an orderly manner. This solution can be summarized as "large-value card swiping, small-amount QR code scanning, and cash pocket". Let me explain specifically.
The first is to improve the environment for accepting overseas bank cards. We organized all branches of the People's Bank of China to find out the acceptance of outdoor cards for domestic merchants under their jurisdiction, and worked with departments of commerce, culture and tourism to demarcate key business districts, airports, railway stations and other major foreign-related venues, and guided commercial banks and payment institutions to accelerate the opening of foreign card acceptance by key merchants. This is known as "big card swipe".
The second is to enrich the supply of mobile payment products. We have guided Alipay, Tenpay, China UnionPay and others to launch products such as "External Card Binding and Internal Use", "Outsourcing and Internal Use", and UnionPay Travel Card, and innovated and developed digital RMB solutions to meet the mobile payment needs of overseas visitors to China. This is a "small amount scan".
The third is to improve the environment for the use of cash. Organize banks to carry out ATM foreign card acceptance transformation to improve the coverage rate of ATMs that support foreign card cash withdrawals. Continue to carry out special rectification work on the refusal to accept RMB cash. This is the last "cash pocket".
In addition, we continue to improve our account services. Guide banks to implement classified and hierarchical management of accounts, optimize the account opening process, and improve the convenience level of opening bank accounts for overseas people in China.
We have also actively carried out publicity and organized the People's Bank of China (PBOC) system and payment service providers to make full use of online and offline channels in overseas visa centers, ports, airports and other places to carry out publicity with wide coverage and high reach.
On the whole, through the joint efforts of all parties, our work has achieved certain positive results. Especially during major international events and conferences such as the Beijing Winter Olympics, Chengdu Universiade, Hangzhou Asian Games, and Tianjin Summer Davos Forum, it has fully guaranteed that overseas visitors to China can enjoy fast, safe and convenient payment services, and modern payment has become a beautiful "business card" to show China's high-quality development.
In the next step, the People's Bank of China will work with relevant departments to give full play to the role of the special working mechanism, and continue to promote the acceptance of foreign cards, mobile payment, cash use, account services, publicity and promotion in accordance with the established work plan and goals, so as to further enhance the payment facilitation for overseas visitors to China. Here, I also implore **friends, we work together to promote this work, our open door is opening wider and wider, and guests can enjoy our high-quality, safe and convenient payment services. This is my answer to your question.
I would also like to take this opportunity to make a brief summary. The theme of this briefing is the "Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of Non-bank Payment Institutions", and payment is closely related to everyone, and I believe that all of you will use a variety of payment services every day. For a long time, remittances could only go to the bank, and I believe that the young friends here today rarely go to the bank. However, both banks and non-bank payment institutions are the main entities that provide payment services. Let me inform you of the basic situation, if calculated according to the number of payments, eighty percent are payment institutions, and two percent are banks;If calculated by the amount of payment, the majority is the bank, and the small proportion is in the payment institution. Therefore, banks and non-bank payment institutions together constitute the main body of payment services, with a clear division of labor and mutual cooperation, with the purpose of providing safe and efficient payment services for business entities and the public. Therefore, scanning code payment and mobile payment are the business cards we are proud of and an important embodiment of high-quality development, which is a new solution brought by scientific and technological progress and industry development to business entities and the public, which is a good thing. However, in the process of rapid development, there are some problems and risks, and it is based on this that the "Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of Non-bank Payment Institutions" have been promulgatedThe second is to adhere to the purpose of small amounts and convenience for the people;The third is to ensure healthy competition and vitality. The People's Bank of China is the administrative organ authorized by the Regulations, and we will administer according to law, strictly implement the provisions of the Regulations, treat and supervise all kinds of payment institutions, whether they are head institutions or small and medium-sized institutions, equally and according to law, to ensure that they provide high-quality payment services to business entities and the public. At the same time, we will continue to build a healthy and dynamic payment format.