In order to further optimize the business environment and enhance the quality and efficiency of foreign exchange services for the real economy, the Hubei Provincial Branch of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange has formulated and issued the “Implementation Rules for the High-level Pilot Opening of Cross-border Trade of the Hubei Provincial Branch of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange”, clarifying that from June 1, 2026, the pilot policy for high-level openness of cross-border trade will be officially implemented in Wuhan, Xiangyang, Yichang, Huangshi, and Jingmen.
On June 9, we learned from the Hubei Provincial Branch of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange that the above-mentioned policies have comprehensively optimized the current account business process through a series of measures such as expanding the scope of netting settlement, and assisted the high-quality development of Hubei’s foreign-related economy.
Huangshi Tianxing Trading Co., Ltd. is mainly engaged in steel export business and has long-term trade relations with the same customers in Hong Kong.
Under the previous settlement model, companies were required to collect export payments one by one and then pay related after-sales fees separately. Not only did they have to prepare two sets of cross-border payment information, they also had to bear multiple remittance fees and face possible exchange rate fluctuation risks.
Thanks to the support of the pilot policy, enterprises and customers can carry out net settlement of current account foreign exchange receipts and payments, and the process from submitting a business application to net receipt netting is completed in less than half an hour, achieving “one application, one settlement”.
The financial person in charge of the company said: “In the past, cross-border receipts and payments were handled separately, which was time-consuming and laborious and increased costs. Now the business processing can be completed with one net settlement, which not only saves work time, but also reduces cross-border handling fees and reduces operating costs of tens of thousands of yuan.”
YOFC and its overseas subsidiaries regularly carry out the import and export of general trade goods. The number of fund collection and payment transactions is large, the process is cumbersome, and the exchange cost is high. Dozens of transactions every month occupy a lot of manpower and capital costs, restricting the efficiency of capital turnover.
The company stated that this netting settlement business effectively simplifies cross-border fund collection and payment procedures, improves the flexibility of capital dispatch, and provides strong support for companies to deeply explore the global market and expand overseas layout.
It is understood that in the next stage, the Hubei Provincial Branch of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange will actively promote the implementation of the pilot policy for high-level opening up of cross-border trade, support more qualified high-quality enterprises to participate in the pilot, and fully enjoy a series of “policy dividends” such as innovation in settlement methods, improvement in settlement efficiency, and access to pilot entities.
At the same time, it will also guide and encourage prudent and compliant banks to optimize their business processes, provide high-quality cross-border financial services to high-quality enterprises, and empower the high-quality development of the foreign trade industry.
The implementation of this policy is of great significance to the development of Hubei’s foreign-related economy. It will not only improve the operating efficiency of enterprises and reduce costs, but also promote the in-depth integration of Hubei and the international market and push Hubei’s foreign trade industry to a new level.
Against the background of the ever-changing global economic landscape, Hubei is expected to gain greater competitive advantages in the international market and achieve sustainable development of the foreign-related economy through the pilot policy of high-level opening up of cross-border trade.
