A large number of accounts were frozen, with an amount exceeding 1 billion. This letter saved foreign trade people...

Recently, the topic "Massive freezing of bank cards impacts Yiwu's foreign trade" has attracted 1.569 million reads and 148 discussions on Weibo .

In fact, the freezing of Yiwu foreign trade merchants’ accounts was already a hot topic at the end of last year. Recently, the topic has gained popularity again due to the online spread of a “love letter to public security agencies across the country” issued by Yiwu Public Security Bureau .

The funds involved exceeded 1 billion! A large number of foreign trade merchants in Yiwu had their bank cards frozen

When talking about Yiwu, many people think of "small commodities". As the "world supermarket", there are a large number of small and micro foreign trade enterprises here, including many cross-border e-commerce sellers. This is also the main reason why Yiwu has become a hard-hit area in the card blocking action implemented by the country in recent years.

It is reported that the reason why these foreign trade merchants ' "bank cards were frozen" was that local police suspected that the money in the cards was involved in telecommunications network fraud or online gambling.

According to incomplete official statistics, in 2020 alone , the number of bank accounts of enterprises and individuals in Yiwu City that were sealed by local public security departments exceeded 10,000, and the funds frozen exceeded 1 billion. The scope of the impact at least doubled compared with 2019.

In this huge group, they call each other "Frozen Friends".

As telecom network fraud and underground banks become more closely linked, this large-scale economic crime has become a threat to the country's financial stability. It is understandable that the country has cracked down on it, but it is undeniable that many foreign trade merchants have been accidentally injured in this card blocking operation.

A few days ago, a netizen who works in foreign trade said that he had just negotiated with a Bangladeshi client two days ago. The payment for goods was 20,000 RMB, which the client directly transferred to his personal account. As a result , the bank card was frozen as soon as the money was transferred. Together with the original 60,000 RMB in the account , a total of 80,000 RMB was directly "cleared".

In comparison, the losses suffered by the above netizens are still small.

According to a financial media report, a merchant had 6 million yuan frozen . In order to turn over the funds, he had to take out a loan, with the interest being hundreds of thousands of yuan a year.

Moreover, many foreign trade merchants in Yiwu have had their bank cards repeatedly frozen. One merchant said that his foreign trade friends’ bank accounts have either been frozen before or are being frozen. Some payments have even been frozen for as long as half a year and there is still no news of unfreezing.

Now, the situation faced by merchants is that the goods have been shipped out, but the money they receive is frozen. In this case, merchants with strong funds may be able to hold on, but some merchants with weak funds will go bankrupt.

In order to stabilize Yiwu's foreign trade environment, the Yiwu Municipal Government recently set up a bank account freezing assistance center to help business operators deal with frozen bank cards by dispatching personnel from the Yiwu Commerce Bureau, Yiwu People's Procuratorate, Yiwu Public Security Bureau, Yiwu Justice Bureau, China Commodity Group and other departments.

Despite this, many netizens still believe that such enforcement is too one-size-fits-all. A foreign trade merchant also said: "We support the country's crackdown on online fraud, but we hope that innocent people will not be harmed in the process of law enforcement, and that the amount not involved in the case will be unfrozen as soon as possible so as not to affect the normal life and production of innocent people."

Is there hope? Yiwu police open letter: reject excessive law enforcement

Foreign traders’ accounts are frequently frozen, and there may be a solution to this problem.

In order to stabilize Yiwu's foreign trade environment, the Yiwu Municipal Government recently set up a bank account freezing assistance center to help business operators deal with frozen bank cards by dispatching personnel from the Yiwu Commerce Bureau, Yiwu People's Procuratorate, Yiwu Public Security Bureau, Yiwu Justice Bureau, China Commodity Group and other departments.

In addition, recently, Yiwu City Police sent a letter to public security agencies across the country, in which they made several suggestions:

The public security organs are responsible for tracing and verifying the illegality of the source of funds. Fully understand the current situation and problems of Yiwu enterprises and individual industrial and commercial households in the foreign trade industry, and apply the evidence collection method of witness testimony for operators who can provide business entity qualifications, order vouchers, shipping vouchers, foreign trade freight forwarding entities, and corresponding payment receipts.

In addition, it is not recommended to force the business owners to return the money, or to seize the money by taking coercive measures; it is not recommended to adopt selective law enforcement activities such as "return the money or take coercive measures" against the business owners . Yiwu police suggested that after collecting evidence from the business owners, the suspected stolen money should be dealt with by lifting the freeze, limiting the freeze, or taking some restrictive measures to ensure the safety of the funds.

The core of the police's handling of problematic funds is whether the merchant obtained the payment in good faith. The open letter stated that in judicial activities, the Yiwu Municipal Government and relevant departments have requested the higher authorities to set and clarify opinions on the handling opinions on the business owner's good faith acquisition of payment, the renewal of freezing regulations and other legal application issues.

And it was clearly stated in their minds that the Yiwu Public Security Bureau would not support excessive or selective law enforcement , and would report any situations deemed to be at fault to the relevant departments, with the organizers bearing the responsibility for the corresponding law enforcement activities.

When collecting cross-border payments, what should foreign traders pay attention to ?

In the past two years, there have been many cases of account freezing, and it has become difficult for foreign trade people to successfully receive payments.

For example, after receiving U.S. dollars from international customers, the bank can go to the bank to convert the U.S. dollars into RMB and use it for payment and settlement with market operators. Directly receiving RMB from international customers or unrelated third parties is not compliant. If you want to avoid freezing, you must follow formal transaction operations.

In response to this, Yiwu Commerce Bureau also issued a "Notice to Foreign Businessmen" to remind them to change their payment methods. Yiwu Commerce Bureau issued two pieces of advice to foreign businessmen:

1. When paying for goods, we hope that you will pay the foreign exchange directly to the foreign trade company or market merchant through the bank. Do not pay in RMB through an unknown account in China. This payment method is very easy for criminals to mix stolen money with the money. Your money will be confiscated by the government and returned to the victim. At the same time, the market merchant will think that you have failed to pay for the goods and need you to pay again, which will cause you losses. Special reminder : If you actively participate in illegal crimes such as underground banks, you will be subject to various penalties including restrictions on entry and exit.

2. After purchasing the goods, we hope that you will directly entrust local companies to complete the export procedures such as booking and customs declaration of the goods. Do not ask foreign companies that you are not familiar with to handle the export procedures for the sake of cheaper prices. This entrustment method will bring you unnecessary troubles such as inconvenience in payment settlement.

In addition, foreign traders can receive payments for free through these mature cross-border e-commerce platforms, and can directly withdraw cash to settle foreign exchange. In addition, the Yiwu local government has launched the Yiwu self-employed foreign exchange settlement policy to meet the needs of foreign traders. With strict implementation of supervision methods and the help of the government, foreign traders may escape this "vicious circle".