China central bank extends hours for large-value payment system: sources

[January 03, 2018]  BEIJING (Reuters) - China's central bank has issued a notice to extend the operating hours of its large-value payment system to improve efficiency for cross-border transactions, three sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.

A woman walks past the headquarters of the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, in Beijing, June 21, 2013. REUTERS/Jason Lee/File Photo

Starting from Jan. 22, the payment system will run 21 hours, from 23:30 pm to 20:30 pm the following day, from Monday to Friday, the sources said.

The clearing window for the system will be open from 17:15 pm to 20:30 pm, they said.

The central bank's Accounting Data Centralized System will record transactions that occur between 23:30 pm and 24:00 pm on the following day's account and will not affect the regulatory review of the previous day's reserve requirements, the sources said.

The extended hours will allow overnight transactions for large value payments and benefit the internationalization of renminbi, said one of the sources.

An official from the central bank confirmed the information.

(Reporting By Li Zheng and Ryan Woo, Additional Reporting By Rong Ma and Ivy Lv, Writing by Shu Zhang)

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