Recently, the General Office of the National Development and Reform Commission ("NDRC") has distributed the Circular on Matters concerning the Application for the Scale of Borrowing of Medium- and Long-term Foreign Debts by Foreign-funded Banks in China in 2018 (the "Circular").
The Circular clearly states that a wholly foreign-funded bank or a joint venture bank may apply to the NDRC through the provincial-level development and reform commissions of the place where it is registered for the business purpose. Further, the Circular notes that a foreign-funded bank may apply to the NDRC through the related provincial development and reform commission for raising its scale of medium- and long-term foreign debts borrowing, before December 31, 2018. Domestic branches of a foreign bank may use their bank's scale of medium- and long-term foreign debts borrowing in 2018 by exchanging among themselves, particulars on the exchanged scale shall be reported to the NDRC for record-filing by the China-based bank which is mainly responsible for such reporting. In addition, the Circular specifies that the NDRC, while determining the scale of medium- and long-term foreign debts borrowing in 2018, will mainly take into account of the actual use of foreign debts in the most recent three years, as well as the demand for foreign exchange funds in respect of fixed asset investment project loans and medium- and long-term working capital loans in 2018, adding that the NDRC will further expand the scale of foreign debts borrowed by foreign-funded banks for overseas financing activities.