Recently, during the Ninth Session of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC), the Anti-Money Laundering Law of the People's Republic of China (Draft Revision) (the "Draft"), the Accounting Law of the People's Republic of China (Draft Amendment), and four other legislation drafts were deliberated. These drafts are now released for public comments within 30 days.
The Draft supplements and improves relevant systems, with the focus on clarifying the scope of application, strengthening anti-money laundering supervision and management, and improving anti-money laundering obligations. Specifically, the Draft clarifies the scope of specific non-financial institutions and relevant anti-money laundering regulation. The competent authorities will supervise and inspect the performance of anti-money laundering obligations by specific non-financial institutions and may request assistance from the anti-money laundering administrative authorities when needed. The Draft specifies anti-money laundering obligations of financial institutions, including establishing and improving the internal control systems for anti-money laundering and effectively implementing them. It also emphasizes that entities and individuals must not engage in money laundering activities or facilitate money laundering, and they should cooperate with financial institutions and specific non-financial institutions in conducting customer due diligence in accordance with the law.