With the full promotion of the "Cross-border Financial Blockchain Service Platform" by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange and the amendment of the new "Regulations on Foreign Exchange Management" in 2026,traditional agentsThe manual ledger and paper-based document mode for foreign exchange settlements are facing dual challenges of compliance and efficiency.More than 60% of small and medium-sized agencies are suffering from capital delays due to opaque processes,which may even trigger foreign exchange inspections.

I.The fundamental conflict in foreign exchange settlement agency services: the trade-off between compliance and efficiency

The core contradiction of foreign exchange settlement for import and export agency transactions is that foreign exchange management requires "authentic transaction background and consistent documents," while under the traditional model,information asymmetry between agents,clients,banks,and foreign exchange administration authorities leads to the coexistence of "difficulty in proving compliance" and "slow capital turnover." Moreover,the new regulations in 2026 explicitly require "thorough review of transaction background for each foreign exchange settlement exceeding 500,000 U.S.dollars," further restricting the scope for gray-market operations.

II.Agency forex receipt/payment compliance SOP: Closed-loop from docs to tax

Step 1: Verifying the consistency between the transaction subject and the documents

Output:

• Verifythatthe"principal"and"agent"intheagencyagreementarecompletelyconsistentwiththebuyerandsellerintheimportandexportcontract(includingthefullnameoftheenterpriseandtheunifiedsocialcreditcode);
• Checktheconsignee/consignorinformationonthecommercialinvoicesandbillsoflading(orwarehousereceipts),ensuringthatitformsa"principal-agent"logicalchainwiththecontractparties(youcannoteintheinvoice’sremarkscolumnthat"thegoodsinthisbillareimported/exportedbyXXCompanyonbehalfofXXCompany").

Step 2: Accessing the blockchain platform and uploading the documents to the blockchain

Output:

• Loginto“Cross-borderFinanceBlockchainServicePlatform”(Officialsite:1)Registeranenterpriseaccountandcompletethereal-nameauthentication;
• Uploadelectronicdocuments:contract(PDF),commercialinvoice(PDF),billoflading(scannedcopyorelectronicbilloflading),agencyagreement(PDF).Thesystemwillautomaticallygenerateauniquehashvalueforthedocuments.

Step 3: Foreign exchange declaration and fund transfer

Output:

• Theagentinitiatesaforeignexchangepaymentandreceiptapplicationthroughthebank’ssystemandsynchronizestheblockchainevidencenumberatthesametime;
• Afterthebankverifiestheconsistencyofthedocuments,itautomaticallysubmitsthetransactioninformationtotheforeignexchangebureau,andthefundswillbecreditedtotheaccountwithinT+1days(forimportpayments,theexchangerateneedstobelockedinadvance).
• ExportThe"exportreceiptandpaymentverification"mustbecompletedwithinthreeworkingdaysafterthefundsarrive,andtherelevantdocumentsmustbeuploadedthroughtheplatform.Waterbill.

Step 4: Synchronized declaration of tax and foreign exchange data

Output:

• Aftermakingtheimportpayment,theagentneedstofillinthe"WithholdingandPaymentofValue-AddedTax"(ifapplicable)whenfilingtheVATdeclaration,andattachthe"PaymentRecordForm"issuedbytheforeignexchangebureau;
• Forexportreceiptofforeignexchange,itisnecessarytolinkthereceiptofforeignexchangeinformationinthe"Exemption,OffsetandRefund"systemtoensurethatthecustomsdeclarationform,theamountofforeignexchangereceived,andtheinvoiceamountareconsistentwitheachother.

III.Experts warn that 90% of enterprises ignore the invisible compliance red lines

1.“One shipment,one settlement” principle: For the same import and export business,the receipt and payment of foreign exchange must correspond to the same set of documents.It is prohibited to "mix multiple documents for settlement" or "split documents for receipt and payment".Otherwise,the foreign exchange bureau will trigger the "attention to the enterprise" rating for the company involved;

2.The time difference risk between taxation and foreign exchange: After making an import payment,if the VAT declaration is not submitted within 90 days,or after receiving an export payment,if the foreign exchange settlement is not verified within 180 days,the transaction will be classified as an "abnormal transaction".

3.The impact of credit ratings in 2025: The State Administration of Foreign Exchange will evaluate enterprises based on their compliance records of foreign exchange receipts and payments over the past two years and assign them A (excellent),B (medium),or C (poor) ratings.Enterprises rated C will face a 15% to 30% increase in cross-border financing costs.

IV.Three urgent actions that can be taken today

• Downloadthe"Self-CheckListforAgentstoVerifyForeignExchangePaymentDocuments"immediately.1)Checkthetransactiondocumentsofthepastsixmonthsagainsttheoriginaldocuments;
• Contacttheaccount-openingbanktoconfirmwhetherthe"directconnectiontotheblockchainplatform"functionhasbeenactivated.Ifithasn’tbeenactivated,theconnectionmustbecompletedwithin10workingdays.
• Addthe"foreignexchangecompliancefields"totheenterpriseERPsystem:contractnumber,blockchainstoragenumber,andthedateofforeignexchangereceiptandpayment,toensurereal-timesynchronizationoffinancialandbusinessdata.