Foreign banks in Shenzhen have been exempted from a recent rule, which limits daily bank withdrawals to 30,000 yuan (US$3,947) per customer.

“Our customers can withdraw a ceiling of 100,000 yuan a day at the counter, and if the amount exceeds 100,000 yuan, the customers must make an appointment at least one day ahead,” Leo Wang, a CitiGold associate with Citibank’s Shenzhen Branch, said yesterday.

People’s Bank of China’s Shenzhen Branch recently set the daily withdrawal limit of 30,000 yuan per customer for all domestic banks in the city.

“Even if the rule is imposed on foreign banks, the impact will not be that significant because most of our customers use cards and bank transfer for businesses,” said Wang.

The daily withdrawal limit was set to restrict the circulation of cash among individuals and institutions. The “Big Four” Chinese banks, namely Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Agriculture Bank of China and China Construction Bank, have implemented the daily withdrawal limit of 30,000 yuan. They have also limited weekly withdrawals to 50,000 yuan and monthly withdrawals to 200,000 yuan.

The daily ceiling for ATM withdrawals remains unchanged at 20,000 yuan, but ICBC has lowered the limit for a single withdrawal from 2,500 yuan to 1,000 yuan and China Merchants Bank (CMB) has dropped the single-withdrawl limit from 10,000 yuan to 3,000 yuan. In addition, China Minsheng Bank and CMB have suspended ATM services from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m.

The total amount of cash withdrawals in Shenzhen is the highest among major Chinese cities. In the first nine months of this year, the net cash delivered into circulation in Shenzhen accounted for half the national total.

The Shenzhen branch of People’s Bank of China said the rule was aimed at restricting abnormally large withdrawals, reducing banks’ operating costs and preventing illegal activities such as money laundering, trafficking and tax evasion.

The bank said the restriction would not affect the lives of ordinary people, and has suggested bank customers use Internet and telephone banking as well as debit cards to transfer money.