China's anti-money laundering law is set for its first major revision, aiming to address new money laundering risks related to virtual currencies

ChainCatcher news, according to a report by Interface News, the amendment to China's anti-money laundering law has made significant progress. On January 22, 2024, Premier Li Qiang presided over a State Council executive meeting to discuss the "Anti-Money Laundering Law of the People's Republic of China (Draft Amendment)." Regarding the draft amendment, Wang Xin, a professor at Peking University Law School and an expert involved in the discussion of the anti-money laundering law amendment, stated that the anti-money laundering law covers a wide range of issues, and it is difficult for the draft amendment to address everything comprehensively; it can only reflect the most urgent content in a framework manner.

Yan Lixin, Executive Director of the China Anti-Money Laundering Research Center at Fudan University, stated that the most important, urgent, and necessary issue to be elevated to the legal level is the money laundering problem involving virtual assets. The use of cryptocurrencies and virtual assets for money laundering is gradually becoming a mainstream trend, but China's laws lack a clear definition of the connotation and extension of virtual assets. Wang Xin believes that the prohibition of Bitcoin's legal status in China reflects the country's attitude towards virtual currencies. To prevent digital financial risks, China prohibits providing or accepting services related to virtual currencies. The draft amendment to the anti-money laundering law has included measures to address new types of money laundering risks, requiring financial institutions to assess money laundering risks and take risk management measures before adopting new technologies or providing new products.

In addition, Yan Lixin introduced that there is still significant room for improvement in the judicial relief work during the anti-money laundering enforcement process in China, and the anti-money laundering law should also cover judicial relief-related content to protect citizens' legal rights and interests. In reality, it is not uncommon for financial accounts or personal bank cards suspected of money laundering or other illegal or criminal activities to be "frozen," "suspended," or "seized" without proper recourse, and such situations have become commonplace. Among them, there are many individuals or groups who have been mistakenly targeted or harmed, and cases where accounts are mistakenly frozen or suspended without any avenue for appeal, leading to prolonged indecision and causing individuals, families, or businesses to fall into dire straits are also not rare. Wang Xin believes that a compliant management system must be established for anti-money laundering. As a fundamental law, the anti-money laundering law should incorporate compliance requirements for anti-money laundering, facilitating the subsequent issuance of implementation rules and other guiding documents.