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DECREE OF THE STATE COUNCIL CONCERNING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE POLICY OF PROTECTING REMITTANCES BY OVERSEAS CHINESE

    Overseas remittances are incomes of overseas Chinese earned from labour
and other professional operations, and are used for supporting their relatives
residing in China; overseas remittances, one of the legitimate rights and
interests of overseas Chinese and their relatives, are closely connected with
the personal interests of overseas Chinese, and are the financial sources that
the broad masses of the relatives of overseas Chinese rely on for their
livelihood. Moreover, overseas remittances play a positive role in the
building of the country, and are in the interest of the people of the whole
country. Especially in places where relatives of overseas Chinese are
concentrated, overseas remittances have played markable role in promoting
economic prosperity in their local areas and in developing cultural and public
welfare undertakings. Such being the case, cadres at various levels,
especially cadres at the county, district, and tonwship levels, should foster
a profound understanding of the important role played by overseas remittances,
and pay due attention to them accordingly.

    In the past five years, the State has consistently and resolutely
protected overseas remittances and carried out the policy of "facilitating the
handling of overseas remittances and serving the compatriots residing abroad".
In order to show consideration for the interests of our compatriots residing
abroad and for the relatives of overseas Chinese, the State has set reasonable
foreign exchange quotations. In the early years after Liberation, in order to
protect the relatives of overseas Chinese from the impact of fluctuations of
commodity prices, the State formulated procedures for making remittances and
deposits in the original foreign currencies. And, after the currency system of
our country became stable and the currencies of some countries were
devaluated, the State again formulated measures for making remittances in
Renminbi (RMB), so as to protect the interests of our compatriots residing
abroad and of the relatives of overseas Chinese.

    However, cases have been discovered that grass-roots administrative
departments in some areas have failed to implement thoroughly the State policy
for protecting overseas remittances; local cadres in some areas inhabited by
relatives of overseas Chinese have failed to gain a good understanding of the
significance of overseas remittances and of the State policy for protecting
overseas remittances; and in some areas inhabited by relatives of overseas
Chinese, cases even exist that the use of overseas remittances by the
relatives has been meddled with to varying extents. In order to protect the
interests of our compatriots residing abroad and of the relatives of overseas
Chinese, in accordance with the provisions in Article 11 of the Constitution
of the People's Republic of China: "The State protects citizens' proprietary
rights of their lawful incomes, deposits, houses, and various means of
livelihood", the Decree to implement the policy of protecting overseas
remittances is hereby issued:

    1. Overseas remittances are the lawful incomes of the relatives of
overseas Chinese; the policy for protecting overseas remittances is a State
policy not only for the present, but also for a long period to come.

    2. When soliciting the relatives of overseas Chinese for joining various
types of cooperatives, for patriotic deposits, or for buying government bonds,
it is imperative that all be done on a completely voluntary basis. No
individual or organization shall be permitted to borrow money from the
relatives of overseas Chinese by coercion, and nor shall they be permitted to
withhold overseas remittances, or to embezzle, under any pretext, overseas
remittances. Any case of embezzlement of overseas remittances shall be dealt
with in light of the seriousness of the case; those lawless persons who have
misappropriated, embezzled, falsely claimed, or stolen overseas remittances
must be punished according to law.

    3. Relatives of overseas Chinese shall have the freedom to spend their
overseas remittances and no person shall be permitted to meddle with relatives
of overseas Chinese in their spending overseas remittances on their private
life, including wedding ceremony, funeral ceremony, and other jubilant
celebrations.

    4. The State encourages overseas Chinese and their relatives to invest
their overseas remittances in production, or to buy shares from State
investment companies; the State also encourages overseas Chinese and their
relatives to build houses, for which the local state administrative organs at
various levels shall provide facilities. Overseas Chinese have consistently
shown enthusiasm in supporting the public welfare undertakings in their native
places, such as building schools and hospitals, water conservancy projects,
bridges and roads, etc. The local state administrative organs at various
levels should show concern for all these undertakings, and give them guidance
and assistance; and when it is necessary, give them commendations.