China clamps down on large transactions

The People's Bank of China has kicked off a pilot plan in Hebei province that would require retail and business clients to pre-report any large withdrawals or deposits, according to a statement.

The two-year program will be expanded to Zhejiang and Shenzhen in October, encompassing more than 70 million people.

The pilot program aims to tighten monitoring of "unreasonable demands of large amounts of cash" to keep systematic risks in check, the PBOC said. Regulators will protect the public's normal need for large transactions, it said.

The plan will require businesses to provide information on transactions exceeding 500,000 yuan (HK$552,093). For individuals, the threshold spans from 100,000 yuan to 300,000 yuan depending on the region, according to the statement.

Meanwhile, onshore yuan rose 350 basis points to 7.033 per dollar yesterday, the highest for more than three months and a half.