The State Development Planning Commission, the Ministry of Finance, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange Decree of the State Development Planning Commission, the Ministry of Finance, and State Administration of Foreign Exchange No.28 The Interim Measures on the Management of Foreign Debts which are enacted with a view to regulating the act of raising foreign debts, Director of the State Development Planning Commission Zeng Peiyan Minister of the Ministry of Finance Xiang Huaicheng Director of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange Guo shuqing January 8, 2003 Interim Measures on the Management of Foreign Debts Chapter I General Provisions Article 1 The present Measures are enacted with a view to regulating the act of raising foreign debts, bringing more benefits from the use foreign Article 2 The term “foreign debt” as mentioned in the present Measures refers to the debts owed by domestic institutions to non-residents in Article 3 “Domestic institutions” as mentioned in the present Measures refers to the permanent bodies established according to law in the territory Article 4 “Nonresidents” as mentioned in the present Measures refer to the institutions and natural persons abroad, and the nonpermanent institutions Article 5 In accordance with the classification of the debts, foreign debts shall be divided into loans offered by foreign governments, loans 1. Loans offered by the foreign governments refer to the official credit raised by the Chinese government from foreign governments; 2. Loans offered by the international financial organizations refer to the noncommercial credit which the Chinese government owes to 3. International commercial loans refer to the commercial credit which the domestic institutions owe to the nonresidents, including: (1) loans raised from overseas banks or other financial organizations; (2) loans borrowed from overseas enterprises, or other financial organizations and natural persons; (3) medium-term or long-term bonds (including convertible bonds) issued by foreign banks or short-term bonds (including commercial negotiable (4) the buyers’ credit, deferred payment and trade finance in other forms; (5) international financial leases; (6) foreign currency deposits of nonresidents; (7) debts repaid in cash in compensation trade; and (8) international loans of other categories. Article 6 According to the responsibility for the repayment, foreign debts may be divided into sovereign debts and non-sovereign debts. 1. The sovereign debts refer to the foreign debts borrowed by the institutions authorized by the State Council in the name of the state 2. The non-sovereign debts refer to other foreign debts except as of the sovereign debts. Article 7 “Foreign guaranty” mentioned in the present Measures refers to the guaranty provided by the domestic institutions for the nonresidents Article 8 The State shall conduct an overall control over all of the foreign debts and feasible foreign debts. The borrowing of foreign debts, Article 9 The State Development Planning Commission, Ministry of Finance, and State Administration of Foreign Exchange are the departments responsible Chapter II Raising of Foreign Debts and Foreign Guaranty Article 10 According to the need of the national economy and social development, and the conditions of the international income and expenses Article 11 The State shall, in compliance with the category of foreign debts, liability for repayment, and the nature of the borrowers, effect Article 12 Loans provided by international financial organizations or foreign governments shall be borrowed by the State in a consolidated way. The State Development Planning Commission shall, jointly with other relevant departments like the Ministry of Finance, make overall Article 13 Where the Ministry of Finance, in the name of the State, issues bonds abroad, the Ministry shall report to the State Council for approval, Article 14 With regard to the medium-term or long-term international commercial loans which national commercial banks raise, the State shall Article 15 Long-term or middle-term international commercial loans borrowed by domestic institutions such as enterprises with Chinese capital Article 16 With regard to the short-term international commercial loans which domestic institutions with Chinese capital raise, the State shall Article 17 With regard to the foreign debts raised by foreign-capital financial institutions within China, the State shall enforce an administration Article 18 The summation of the accumulated medium-term and long-term debts borrowed by enterprises with foreign investment and the balance of Within the range of the surplus enterprises with foreign investment may borrow foreign loans at their own will. If the loans exceed Article 19 Foreign guaranty provided by domestic institutions for foreign debts shall be in compliance with the State’s laws, rules and regulations Article 20 Domestic institutions shall not provide guaranty for non-business external organizations. Article 21 Without approval of the State Council, no governmental organs, social organizations or institutions shall raise foreign loans or provide Article 22 After a domestic institution has concluded a contract for foreign loans or providing foreign guaranty, it shall, in accordance with Chapter III Use of the Foreign Debt Capital Article 23 Foreign debt funds shall be used in the economic development and structural adjustment of the stored foreign debts. Article 24 Favorable foreign medium-term or long-term loans such as loans provided by the international financial organizations or foreign governments Article 25 Medium-term or long-term international commercial loans shall be mainly used for introduction of advanced technology and equipment, Article 26 Medium-term or long-term foreign debt capital borrowed by domestic institutions shall, strictly according to the approved purposes, Article 27 Short-term debts borrowed by domestic enterprises shall be mainly used as circulating funds, which shall not be used for medium-term Article 28 Where investment projects of fixed assets are funded with foreign debt capital, legal person responsibility system of a key project If, in accordance with the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Bid Invitation and Bidding and the relevant provisions prescribed Article 29 Foreign debts regulatory departments shall be responsible for the administration and supervision of the use of foreign debt capital. Article 30 The State Development Planning Commission shall, in accordance with the provisions of the Regulations on the Check of the Important Chapter IV Repayment of Foreign Debts and Management of Risk Article 31 Sovereign foreign debts shall be repaid by the State uniformly. If the sovereign foreign debt capital is relent to domestic debtors Article 32 Non-sovereign foreign debts shall be subject to the responsibility of the debtors themselves for risk and repayment. Article 33 Debtors may fulfill the repayment of the debts with the foreign exchanges which they possess, or upon verification and approval by Article 34 With respect to the debts which a debtor fails to repay, if there is a surety, the surety shall be responsible for the repayment of Article 35 If the surety needs, pursuant to the provisions of the contract for surety, to perform the obligation of repayment of the debts for Article 36 Debtors shall reinforce the management on the risk of foreign debts, and adjust and optimize the debt structure. On the premise that the range of the original debts is not enlarged, debtors may, upon examination and approval of the State Development Article 37 Debtors may, for the purpose of evasion of risk, entrust competent financial institutions to use financial tools to evade the exchange Chapter V Supervision and Administration on Foreign Debts Article 38 Foreign debt regulatory departments shall, pursuant to the laws, rules and regulations, and the relevant provisions of the present Article 39 When the foreign debt regulatory departments perform duties and responsibilities of supervision and administration, they are enpost_titled Article 40 If a domestic institution fails to perform the procedures of examination and approval or to fulfill the registration according to Article 41 Foreign debts or guaranty, which are not embodied in the form of contracts for foreign debts or guaranty, but actually constitute Article 42 Violation of the principle of pooling of interest and joint assumption of risk shall be forbidden so as to ensure that the direct Article 43 Without approval by the foreign debts regulatory departments, overseas enterprises with Chinese capital shall not transfer the risk Article 44 If financial institutions operating foreign exchange business find any act that violates the present Measures in the course of opening Article 45 The foreign debt regulatory departments shall pay strict attention to the trends of the foreign debts, establish and perfect an overall Article 46 The State Administration of Foreign Exchange shall be responsible for the monitoring of foreign debts through statistics, and regularly Article 47 If any domestic institution, in violation of the present Measures, raises foreign debts or provides foreign guaranty, its competent Article 48 If a staff member of the foreign debt regulatory department engages in malpractices for personal gain, abuses his power or neglect Chapter VI Supplementary Provisions Article 49 Loans raised by domestic institutions from the Special Administrative Regions of Hongkong and Macau, and from the Region of Taiwain Article 50 Foreign debts regulatory departments shall, according to the present Measures, enact and perfect the relevant regulations for the Article 51 The present Measures shall be subject to interpretation of the State Development Planning Commission, Ministry of Finance, and State Article 52 The present Measures shall enter into force as of March 1, 2003. |
The State Development Planning Commission, the Ministry of Finance, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange
2003-01-08