On February 26, a press conference on the institutional opening-up in the financial sector in Beijing's "Two Zones" was held. It was announced that bank branches offering all-in-one domestic and foreign currency account services had been established across all administrative districts. By the end of 2024, a total of 64,300 such accounts had been opened in 740 branches.

In 2021, Beijing took the lead in launching the pilot scheme of the cash-pooling service integrating domestic and foreign currency management for multinational companies in China. After the first two rounds of policy upgrades, more than ten multinational corporations have joined the pilot program, benefiting 1,700 affiliated enterprises with cross-border transactions exceeding USD 150 billion. In 2023, Beijing once again took the lead in China in piloting the centralized operation and management of cross-border funds in domestic and foreign currencies for multinational corporations. To date, 93 multinationals have carried out the pilot.

At the beginning of this year, the Beijing Branch of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange newly released and implemented the "Ke Hui Tong" pilot program to further facilitate the foreign currency deposit and foreign exchange settlement for non-enterprise scientific research institutions. Meanwhile, the pilot simplifies the process of domestic reinvestment for foreign-invested enterprises. Pilot enterprises are not required to register for foreign exchange when receiving domestic reinvestment. At present, 120 enterprises are participating in this pilot program, which promotes the development of foreign-invested enterprises in China.

Meanwhile, Beijing has pioneered the establishment of two major airports, enabling overseas travelers to use foreign bank cards to pass through the gates of the city's subway and rail transit. What's more, Beijing has introduced two groundbreaking financial products that integrate banking and telecommunication functions. Beijing also first realizes the full coverage of foreign exchange service facilities in four-star and five-star hotels and key cultural and tourism spots to fully enhance the payment services for international visitors in China.

(Source: The Beijing News)