Chinanews, Shanghai, Mar. 6 – The service that allows individuals in China to use Renminbi to exchange for a small amount of foreign currencies will be launched first in Pudong, Shanghai, on a trial basis. The proposal has been submitted to the central government, however, there was no timetable as to when the proposal would be approved, said Hu Pingxi, head of the Shanghai Branch of the People's Bank of China, or China’s central bank, when he attended the annual session of the National People’s Congress, China's top legislature, on Monday, the Shanghai Morning Post reported.

 

In Singapore and Japan, there are many institutions that can help individuals to use their domestic currencies to exchange for a small amount of foreign currencies. In China, however, individuals can now use Renminbi to exchange for a very limited amount of foreign currencies and such service is only available in banks.

 

Last year, the Shanghai Branch of the People's Bank of China once announced that it would learn experiences from the foreign currency management trial work done to multinational companies in Shanghai and would timely launch a new mode to manage foreign currencies in the special economic area. As part of this work, the Shanghai Branch of the People's Bank of China would choose some trial bases in Pudong area to launch the small-amount money exchanging service for individuals, as part of the work to push forward the ongoing comprehensive reform in Pudong.