State Administration of Foreign Exchange

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) of the People's Republic of China is an administrative agency under the State Council tasked with drafting rules and regulations governing foreign exchange market activities, and managing the state foreign-exchange reserves, which at the end of December 2016 stood at $3.01 trillion for the People's Bank of China. The current director is Pan Gongsheng. Background In 1979, the State Council approved the People's Bank of China's Proposal on the Reform of China's Banking System. This resulted in the establishment of the State Central Administration of Foreign Exchange (SCAFE), which managed China's then-small amount of foreign reserves. Although under the authority of the State Council, SCAFE was administered by the People's Bank of China. After the State Council reorganization in 1983, SCAFE became a subsidiary of the People's Bank of China and became known by its current name, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. In 1988, SAFE was elevated to report directly to the State Council, but remained under People's Bank of China's management. SAFE has a vice-ministry level position within the Chinese bureaucracy. Historically, its lead executive has also generally held the position of vice governor of the People's Bank of China. Role SAFE is the foreign exchange management administrative body of the People's Bank of China.