中國仍然面臨資本外流壓力

China’s foreign exchange regulators are struggling to stem the flow of personal wealth spilling offshore via Hong Kong’s insurance industry, the latest results from the world’s second-largest insurer suggest.

全球第二大保險商的最新年報顯示，中國外匯監管機構很難阻止個人財富借道香港保險業流出海外。

Yesterday AIA Group said that the value of new business in the territory increased by 60 per cent to $537m in the first six months of the year, noting a “substantial uplift in new business from mainland Chinese customers”.

昨日友邦保險(AIA Group)表示，今年上半年香港新業務價值增長60%，至5.37億美元，並指出“來自中國內地客戶的新業務大幅提升”。

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange has attempted this year to close off channels that allow people to move large sums of money offshore, including the use of Chinese-issued credit cards to buy expensive insurance policies abroad.

中國國家外匯管理局(SAFE)今年試圖關閉讓人們將大額資金轉移海外的渠道，包括使用中國發行的信用卡在海外購買昂貴保單。

Businesses and individuals in China have increasingly sought to move wealth offshore in the face of a slowing economy, a volatile stock market and the falling value of the renminbi.

面對經濟放緩、股市波動和人民幣不斷貶值，在中國的企業和個人日益尋求將財富轉移出境。

Offshore insurance products in Hong Kong have been a popular haven to hold individual wealth since China began devaluing the renminbi in August last year. The currency has fallen to Rmb6.65 against the US dollar from Rmb6.21 on August 9 last year.

自中國在去年8月開始讓人民幣貶值以來，香港的離岸保險產品成爲流行的持有個人財富的“避風港”。人民幣兌美元匯率從去年8月9日的1美元兌6.21元人民幣跌至1美元兌6.65元人民幣。

Once customers buy insurance policies using renminbi, they can use them as collateral for US dollar-denominated loans. They can also cash out of the products into a foreign currency.

一旦客戶使用人民幣購買保單，他們就可以用保單作爲抵押，申請美元計價的貸款。他們也可以把這些產品套現爲外幣。

China allows individuals to exchange up to $50,000 a year into foreign currencies but Safe said in February that it would enforce a $5,000 cap on the purchase of financial products through credit cards issued by China UnionPay, the country’s state-controlled card monopoly.

中國允許個人每年兌換至多5萬美元的外國貨幣，但中國外管局今年2月表示，將對通過中國銀聯(China UnionPay)發行的信用卡購買金融產品實施每次5000美元的上限。中國銀聯是中國國有信用卡壟斷機構。

People involved in Hong Kong’s insurance market say the cap has not prevented Chinese customers from swiping their UnionPay cards multiple times in order to surpass the $5,000 cap.

香港保險市場的知情人士表示，這種上限沒有阻止中國客戶多次刷銀聯信用卡以突破5000美元的上限。

“The bottom line is that there is huge pressure from individuals to bring money out of China,” said Kevin Lai, chief Asia economist at Daiwa Capital Markets.

大和資本市場(Daiwa Capital Markets)的首席亞洲經濟學家賴志文(Kevin Lai)表示：“歸根結底，個人將資金帶出中國境外產生了巨大壓力。”