A deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, said Friday China should map out special anti-money laundering regulations as soon as possible.
  
"The fight against dirty money is conducive to economic development and social stability and unity," said Zhao Peng, director of the Gansu provincial branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), China's biggest commercial bank.
  
The People's Bank of China (PBC), or the central bank, gives the priority to collecting and analyzing information on large-value and suspicious transactions at banks when following the tracks of dirty money. "The inspection covers a narrow area and proves not that effective," he told Xinhua.
  
Instead, Zhao said China is badly in need of a supervision system of anti-money laundering that covers all the three leading financial sectors -- banking, securities and insurance. "There are some loopholes in insurance and securities sectors in terms of anti-money laundering work."
  
China's anti-money laundering regulations should clarify the functions different departments should perform, he said. The country has now four bodies oversee the financial sector, namely the central bank and three regulatory commissions on banking, insurance and securities.
  
A latest report from the central bank also said that the central bank will actively promote formulation of a law on anti-money laundering, and continue to conduct on-site inspection on anti-money laundering activities at commercial banks and participate in the investigation of money laundering crimes. 
  
PBC Deputy Governor Li Ruogu said earlier that China would become a full member of the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF), the most influential international anti-money laundering organization, in the middle of this year if everything goes smoothly, an effort to enhance global cooperation in this regard.

(Xinhua News Agency March 11, 2005)