[Commentary] On April 17, the State Council Office held a press conference. The spokesperson of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, chief economist, and director of the Department of International Payments Wang Chunying introduced foreign exchange revenue and expenditure data in the first quarter of 2020 and answered questions from reporters. At the press conference, Wang Chunying pointed out that due to the impact of the New Coronary Pneumonia epidemic, global economic and trade activities and the international financial market have been severely affected in recent times. Under this circumstance, the operation of China's foreign exchange market has remained generally stable.
[Same period] Wang Chunying, spokesperson of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange
I think the first maintenance is to maintain a basic balance between supply and demand in the foreign exchange market. The second maintenance is that the RMB exchange rate has remained relatively stable among the major currencies in the world. The third maintenance is the cross-border investment and financing activities of market entities, as well as the settlement and sale of foreign exchange to maintain basic rationality and order, so the scale of foreign exchange reserves has remained basically stable.
【Explanation】 Wang Chunying said that the fundamentals of China's long-term economic improvement are favorable support for the operation of the foreign exchange market to remain basically stable. In the future, China's foreign exchange market has the ability to maintain stable operation.
[Same period] Wang Chunying, spokesperson of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange
We feel that first of all (China) the epidemic prevention and control situation will be better, and will continue to play a role in stabilizing expectations and confidence. Second, China's long-term economic fundamentals and further opening-up trends have not changed, and they will continue to attract overseas medium- and long-term investments. Thirdly, the maturity of China's foreign exchange market has been continuously improved, which can help China's foreign economy to absorb short-term shocks. We feel that China's foreign exchange market still has the ability to maintain stable operation in the future.
[Explanation] At the meeting, a reporter asked, due to the impact of the epidemic, Chinese foreign-related enterprises have been hit hard. What are the relevant policies issued by the Foreign Exchange Administration in support of the resumption of production and production of enterprises? In response, Wang Chunying also responded.
[Same period] Wang Chunying, spokesperson of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange
First of all, we opened a "green channel" in foreign exchange business to support epidemic prevention and control and the resumption of production of enterprises. We also protect the normal foreign exchange demand of individuals and enterprises, and encourage everyone to handle foreign exchange business online through online. The second aspect is that we continue to deepen the reform and opening up in the foreign exchange field to enhance (cross-border) trade investment and trade facilitation. In the third major aspect, we actively use such technical means as cross-border financial blockchain service platforms to facilitate SMEs to develop trade financing.
[Explanation] Wang Chunying said that in the next step, the SAFE will further sort out the facilitation measures that can be introduced, support enterprises to resume production and production, and carry out cross-border trade investment and financing activities. At the same time, adhere to the principles of initiative, gradual and controllable, relevant policies will not go "backward", and actively prevent risks.
Liu Xuanting reports from Beijing
Responsible editor: [Luo Pan]