- Introduction of New Measures
- Combating Money Laundering
- Continuing the Fight Against Financial Crimes
Chinese authorities have announced new measures to combat money laundering through virtual assets. The new stringent standards for prosecuting money laundering offenses will come into effect on August 20, 2024.
Introduction of New Measures
The primary goal of the new regulations is to prevent the laundering of illicit funds via the use of virtual assets. Legal loopholes and revenues from illegal operations may be hidden via virtual asset transfers, highlighting China's efforts to tackle the proliferation of the virtual asset market.
Combating Money Laundering
The new reasoning is that dealing in virtual assets constitutes 'suppressing and hiding the source' of illicit monies. For example, if a person launders more than 5 million yuan or suffers losses of more than 2.5 million yuan, these scenarios are deemed to constitute 'serious circumstances.'
Continuing the Fight Against Financial Crimes
China plans to implement various steps to strengthen the legal framework against financial crimes. In 2023, China prosecuted about 3,000 instances of money laundering, a significant rise from the previous year. The activity in combating money laundering has increased, as seen by a 20-fold rise compared to 2019. A 28.4 percent increase in prosecutions in the first half of 2024 demonstrated that the war against financial crimes was ongoing.
Since 2020, when the Supreme People’s Procuratorate began promoting collaboration among agencies, China has significantly intensified its fight against money laundering through virtual assets.
