In order to thoroughly implement the decisions and arrangements made by the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council and the requirements set out in the Opinions of the General Office of the State Council on Further Optimizing Payment Services to Facilitate Payments, on April 12, 2024, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) held meetings in Nanjing and Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, on advancing the optimization of payment services. The meetings stressed collaboration with relevant authorities and industries, urging financial institutions in Jiangsu to step up efforts and work together to advance the optimization of payment services. Zhang Qingsong, PBOC Deputy Governor, and Xu Ying, Vice Governor of Jiangsu Province, attended and addressed the meetings.
As noted at the meetings, Jiangsu is a leading provincial economy in China, with prominent export-oriented features and demand for age-friendly services. Therefore, effectively optimizing payment services is highly significant to enhancing people’s sense of well-being, improving the business environment, and achieving high-standard opening-up. With the CPC Jiangsu Provincial Committee and the Jiangsu provincial government having attached great importance to payment facilitation, competent agencies in the province and local PBOC branches have made concerted efforts, so that notable progress has been achieved in Nanjing and Suzhou regarding foreign bank card acceptance at key venues and merchant stores, cash withdrawal using foreign bank cards, and foreign currency exchange. The environment for offering payment services to elderly people and to foreigners who travel, work, live, or study in Jiangsu has been improved continuously.
The meetings required that the PBOC Jiangsu provincial branch should strengthen coordination and work closely with the authorities in charge of commerce, culture and tourism, transport, and other relevant industries, so as to achieve synergy, tackle difficulties with joint efforts, and fulfill the goals with quality and efficiency. Financial institutions in Jiangsu should focus on key tasks and take targeted measures. Continued efforts should be made to advance revamps of bank card acceptance, improve the environment for cash payment, and optimize mobile payment and account services. Moreover, they should enrich the supply of payment services, put effort into improving the system of multi-tiered and diversified payment services, take further steps to bridge the digital divide for the elderly, and enable seamless connectivity between domestic and foreign payment services, thereby creating a better environment for elderly people, foreign visitors to China, and other groups to choose their preferred means of payment.
Attendees included officials from relevant departments of the Jiangsu provincial government and the Suzhou municipal government, relevant PBOC departments, and the PBOC Jiangsu provincial branch and Suzhou branch. Representatives from some commercial banks, payment institutions, clearing institutions, and enterprises in the relevant industries were also present.
