Category: 新闻资讯

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The agreement will allow Armenian and Chinese citizens to visit and stay in each other’s country visa-free for up to 90 days. 

According to the agreement, if Chinese citizens hold valid Chinese ordinary passports and Armenian citizens with valid Armenian ordinary passports. When they enter, leave or transit, they will stay for no more than 90 days every 180 days from the date of entry.

Armenia and China also signed a treaty on extradition and a protocol for food safety, veterinary sector and plant protection on honey exported from Armenia to China.

“We reconfirm our determination to develop our relations based on mutual respect between our two nations. As old civilizations, we know each other well,” the Armenian foreign ministry said in a statement.

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Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stressed the importance of the deal when he met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi later in the day. He said it will spur people-to-people and commercial contacts between the two nations.

Pashinyan also noted his May 14-15 visit to Beijing during which met with China’s President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang. “I am glad that as a result of our discussions we reached concrete agreements on developing mutually beneficial cooperation,” he said, according to his press office.

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“We are prepared for and intent on deepening mutually beneficial cooperation with Armenia,” Wang said for his part.

Official Armenian statements on the talks suggest that Wang’s meetings with Pashinyan and Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan focused on ways of boosting Chinese-Armenian economic ties. They specifically discussed Chinese involvement in infrastructure implemented in Armenia.

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China is already Armenia’s second largest trading partner. According to official Armenian statistics, Chinese-Armenian trade soared by over 29 percent in 2018, to $771 million.

Regional security was also on the agenda of Wang’s talks in Yerevan, with Pashinyan praising China’s “balanced” position on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

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It is the highest penalty imposed on an illegal smoker on the Chinese mainland so far, the Shenzhen Evening News reported Saturday.

The man surnamed Chen was caught red-handed by law enforcement officers while smoking on a pedestrian overpass at Caopu Metro Station in Longgang on Wednesday. 

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Chen clashed with the law enforcement officers and subsequently fled the scene. A law enforcement officer was slightly scratched during the altercation.

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At 9:30 p.m. Thursday, Chen and his family showed up at the same Metro station to take the subway and he was spotted by law enforcers. After nearly three hours of persuasion, Chen eventually accepted the fine.

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“We took him to the duty room and explained the regulations to him after we found him. Accompanied by his family, he admitted to his illegal acts and accepted the punishment,” a law enforcement officer said.

Chen was busted during the city’s second round of anti-smoking raids this year. The campaign, which has included five actions at the city’s Metro stations and parks, started May 20 and will run through Friday.

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• According to the city’s tobacco control regulations, an individual will be fined 50 yuan if caught smoking in a nonsmoking area.

• Those who refuse to obey or hinder law enforcement shall be fined 200 yuan or 500 yuan, respectively. 

More information: City to ban vaping in public venues 深圳将出台史上最严“禁烟令”：电子烟也被禁

Actually, smoking in these places is also illegal, pay attention!

Shenzhen

 

Smoking is prohibited in the indoor workplace, indoor public places, and public transport means.

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Also, it’s prohibited in the following outdoor locations:

1. An outdoor area of education or activity places that provides education, teaching and activity services;

2. Besides (1), outdoor teaching areas of school and training institution;

3. Outdoor areas of parks, medical and health institutions and social welfare institutions that mainly provide services for pregnant women and children;

4. Other outdoor areas of other non-smoking places in medical and health institutions, cultural relic protection units, parks, tourist attractions and other places as stipulated in subparagraph 

5. Outdoor spectator seats or competition areas in sports venues and gym;

6. Temporary establishment of smoke-free areas;

7. Other restricted smoking areas according to law and regulations.

Beijing

Smoking is prohibited in all indoor places. 

Some outdoor areas are also prohibited: 

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1. Kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, children’s palaces, child welfare institutions and other places where minors are the main activity groups;

2. Cultural relics protection units that are open to the public;

3. Spectator seats or competition areas in sports venues and gym;

4. Women and children’s care centers, children’s hospitals.

Guangzhou

Non-smoking public places include:

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1. Indoor areas in public buildings (administrations); 

2. Indoor areas in hospitals, indoor and outdoor areas in women and children’s care centers, children’s hospitals; 

3. Indoor and outdoor areas in kindergartens, schools, children’s palaces; 

4. Indoor areas at education and training venues as well as places for teenager activities; 

5. Indoor areas in cinemas, concert halls, libraries, exhibition halls, science centers, cultural centers, museums, art galleries, memorial halls, etc.; 

6. Shopping malls and bookstores; 

7. Indoor areas in financial, postal and communication places; 

8. Tickets offices, indoor platforms and inside public buses, couches, taxis, ferries; 

9. Auditoriums, sporting venues, indoor gymnasiums; 

10. Indoor hotel lobbies, training centers, and holiday resorts; 

11. Escalators and elevators; 

12. Other non-smoking areas according to law and regulations.

Restricted smoking areas include:

1. Restaurants of over 150 square meters or with over 75 seats;

2. Entertainment and gaming venues;

3. Indoor workspaces;

4. Waiting rooms of public buses, taxis, couches, metro, ferries, trains and Airplanes;

5. Other restricted smoking areas according to law and regulations.

The SAFE has tightened regulation of the foreign exchange market and investigated and dealt with illegal or irregular inflows and outflows of foreign exchange. 

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It also has cracked down on false and fraudulent transactions to ensure the robust operation of the foreign exchange market and guard against and address financial risks. 

Industry insiders said that strengthening the supervision of foreign exchange violations will help prevent cross-border capital flow risks and maintain financial stability.

Huge fine: 84.437 million yuan

The 17 typical cases of violations reported this time are the first time that the SAFE has reported this year.

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These violations involve three types of entities: banks, businesses, and individuals.

• Bank: Mainly manifested in the failure to perform the authenticity audit as required. When the company submits false documents, duplicate documents or invalid documents, it still handles false internal insurance or entrepot trade for the enterprise. 

• Enterprise: Utilize the false document to fabricate a trade background, and transfer money abroad.

• Individual: Buy or sell foreign exchange through illegal institutions such as an underground bank.

Especially, individuals who illegally trade forex or illegally transfer money is the hardest hit.

At present, the foreign exchange business under the personal capital project has not been fully liberalized. 

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Some individuals use dozens of individuals to facilitate the purchase of foreign exchange to pay overseas purchase or investment. This is a typical violation.

According to the reported case, from January 2016 to July 2017, Sun used the annual foreign exchange quota of 34 domestic individuals in China to split the foreign funds into foreign accounts after the purchase of foreign exchange funds in order to invest overseas, with the total capital of 2.44 million USD.

Typical cases: illegal behavior

In fact, SAFE announced 24 cases involving violations of foreign exchange regulations in 2018. Here is a selection of typical cases where foreign exchange regulations were violated are presented as follows:

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From January 2015 to January 2016, Tianjin Binhai Haitong Logistics Co., Ltd. fabricated the background of entrepot trade and paid foreign exchange of USD 46.518 million using the bills of lading already accomplished by other companies.

From January 2015 to December 2016, Xilong Scientific Co., Ltd. in Shantou, Guangdong fabricated the background of entrepot trade and paid foreign exchange of USD 17.6102 million using the invalid bills of lading.

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In June 2015, Chengdu Weiyi Trading Co., Ltd. fabricated the background of entrepot trade and paid foreign exchange of USD 4.2528 million using the false bill of lading.

These companies violated Article 12 and 14 of the Regulations on Foreign Exchange Administration and are considered getting involved in foreign exchange evasion, which has severely disturbed the order of the foreign exchange market. This is a serious case in nature. In accordance with Article 39 of the Regulations on Foreign Exchange Administration, these companies were fined RMB 11.05, 5.77, 1.3 million respectively.

In June 2015, Tianjin Haohua Minsheng Technology Development Co., Ltd. fabricated the background of export and remitted USD 2 million under “advances from customers” into China, which is recognized as an inward remittance in violation of the foreign exchange regulations.

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The company violated Article 12 and 13 of the Regulations on Foreign Exchange Administration, and the company was fined RMB 200,000 in accordance with Article 41 thereof.

From July to September 2015, Lianyungang Yunong Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd. in Jiangsu handled the procedure for inward remittance of capital and settled USD 4.89 million in foreign exchange using the false contract.

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The company violated Article 23 of the Regulations on Foreign Exchange Administration and Article 9 of the Provisions on the Foreign Exchange Administration of Domestic Direct Investment from Foreign Investors and is considered getting involved in illegal foreign exchange settlement. In accordance with Article 41 of the Regulations on Foreign Exchange Administration, the company was fined RMB 980,000.

In 2016, to transfer his assets overseas illegally, Mr. Zhang split up his personal funds, used the annual quotas of 27 individuals including his own to buy foreign exchange and transferred the foreign exchange into his overseas account. The funds thus transferred equaled USD 1.3419 million in total.

Zhang violated Article 7 of the Measures for the Administration of Individual Foreign Exchange and is considered getting involved in the evasion of foreign exchange. In accordance with Article 39 of the Regulations on Foreign Exchange Administration, Zhang was fined RMB 460,000.

From August to September 2016, to transfer his assets overseas illegally, Mr. Chen transferred RMB 26 million into the domestic account controlled by an underground bank, exchanged the money into foreign exchange and then transferred the foreign exchange into his Hong Kong account. The funds thus transferred equaled USD 3.8906 million in total.

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Chen violated Article 30 of the Measures for the Administration of Individual Foreign Exchange and is considered getting involved in the illegal purchase and sales of foreign exchange. In accordance with Article 45 of the Regulations on Foreign Exchange Administration, Chen was fined RMB 1.69 million.

Market purchase trading mode

Many foreigners doing business in China will choose to exchange foreign currency in the black market because the factories can’t provide Fapiao (Chinese invoices) and there is no way to export the goods overseas. For this reason, the government promoted the market to purchase in Yiwu in 2016.

In order to solve the legality of export without an invoice, HACOS also obtained the first batch of pilot enterprise qualifications in Guangzhou in 2017. In 2018, more than 100 Chinese and foreign customers purchased and exported through this mode. 

At the same time, we also assisted foreign investors to settle foreign exchanges with more than 16 million US dollars. The clients no longer have to worry about their funds being frozen. In 2018, we held five lectures on Market Purchase, which enabled more and more people to enjoy the convenience of the new mode.

© Video | China Daily

Such a lecture was held on Wednesday for more than 80 foreign students in Ningxia Medical University, based in Yinchuan, capital of Northwestern China’s Ningxia Hui autonomous region.

Hou Xi, who gave the lecture, said it was a familiar scene for him to speak to international students in a class.

Hou, born in the 1990s, finished his master’s degree at Coventry University in the United Kingdom two years ago and became a traffic police officer in Yinchuan’s Xingqing district.

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He explained the rules with cases studies and also showed some advanced technologies and devices applied by traffic authorities to keep the officers updated.