Liu Minxia, Zhang Hao

    mllmx@msn.com

    FOREIGN-INVESTED companies in Shenzhen’s Qianhai economic zone will be allowed to convert any amount of foreign exchange any time they want beginning Aug. 4 as China continues to relax its control on foreign exchange, the Qianhai authority said in a statement yesterday.

    At present, foreign-invested companies can only apply to make foreign exchange settlements when they need to make payments with Chinese currency. Giving the companies the right to decide when to make foreign exchange settlements and how much to convert would reduce their risks of losing money from foreign exchange fluctuations, the Qianhai authority said.

    It would also increase Qianhai’s appeal as a financial development zone, the Qianhai authority said.

    Qianhai, a 15-square-kilometer coastal strip adjacent to Hong Kong, was chosen as the testing ground for freer yuan usage and capital account convertibility.

    More than 10,000 companies have been set up there this year. Cross-border yuan loans rose to 40 billion yuan from 5.75 billion yuan at the end of last year.