In 2019, the People’s Bank of China (PBC) closely followed the priorities of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, well performed the function and responsibility of money laundering (ML) investigation in accordance with laws and regulations, and fully leveraged its role in safeguarding national security and social stability with good results. The number of ML investigations conducted and assisted by the PBC recorded a new high, which facilitated lawsuits and trials of ML cases. The PBC proactively participated in the crackdown against organized crimes, the fight against export tax rebate fraud and issuance of false value-added tax invoices, the campaign against transferring proceeds of crimes by means of offshore companies and underground banks, and the rectification of the Internet financial risks, all of which harvested substantive results. The PBC also carried out thorough studies and applications of ML typologies to fully learn about the ML typologies and threats China faces.
In 2019, the PBC branches identified or received a total of 15,755 key suspicious transaction clues, and after some screening, conducted ML investigations into 1,143 clues. A total of 4,858 clues were transferred to investigation authorities, increasing by 33.17 percent year on year. The investigation authorities filed a total of 474 cases, growing by 13.13 percent year on year. The number of suspected ML cases processed by investigation authorities with the support of the PBC reached 4,007 with an annual increase of 50.47 percent year on year, and the number of suspected ML cases and other cases solved with the PBC’s assistance amounted to 622 with an increase of 15.19 percent year on year.
