Photo shows the headquarters of the People's Bank of China. File photo: Xinhua

China's central bank said on Monday that it will postpone for technical reasons the implementation of a recent regulation that mandate financial institutions to verify clients' identity and manage transaction records. 

The regulation was originally set to come into effect on March 1. The regulation postponed on Monday required individuals to disclose the source and purpose of a cash withdrawal or deposit on a single transaction of 50,000 yuan ($7,892) or more, according to the National Business Daily, which drew widespread attention from the public.  

According to a statement issued by the People's Bank of China (PBC) on Monday, financial institutions across the country need to review their internal management mechanisms, information systems and business procedures, while implementing personal training in line with the different standards and requirements for a variety of financial products contained in the regulations. 

The statement also said that the PBC will continuously guide financial institutions to strengthen anti-money laundering while further improving the quality and effectiveness of financial services on the real economy, especially to serve small and medium-sized enterprises, improve the business environment, and promote high-quality economic development.

The main purpose of the regulation was to prevent and curb illegal and criminal activities, like money laundering, and protect the safety and interests of people's money, the PBC said earlier in February. 

Illegal and criminal activities, like telecommunications fraud, illegal fundraising and cross-border gambling, have become rampant and seriously hurt public interests. In 2021 alone, the public security agencies investigated and handled more than 370,000 telecom fraud cases, according to official data from the Ministry of Public Security. 

The central bank stressed earlier that the regulation was conductive to the development of the country's financial sector and enhance China's ability to prevent money laundering and funding of terrorist activities, and cope with increasing new challenges for anti-money laundering tasks with changes in financial products and business models.

Global Times