Recently, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange officially approved that the Hainan Airlines Investment Consulting Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Hainan Airlines Group, launched the franchised business of Individual Foreign Currency Exchange in Haikou, Sanya and Wanning. This pilot unit has become the first franchised foreign currency exchange company in Hainan Province which formally provided service to the construction of Hainan International Tourism Destination.
According to report, the Individual Foreign Currency Exchange Business means the two-way exchange service between foreign currency and Renminbi (RMB) provided by domestic non-financial enterprises to individuals both home and abroad in pilot regions or cities after the approval of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.
In order to enrich the multilevel foreign currency exchange market and improve the standard of service in this trade, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange established the Individual Foreign Currency Exchange Business Pilots respectively in Beijing and Shanghai in August, 2008. The State Administration of Foreign Exchange expanded the pilot rang and had Hainan Province enlisted on November 9, 2009.
The foreign currency exchange business of Hainan Airlines Group is an important part for financial environment construction of Hainan International Tourism Destination. According the Hainan International Tourism Destination Construction and Development Planning Outline which is recently approved by the National Development and Reform Commission, a key link in construction of the International Tourism Destination is to "launch the Individual Foreign Currency Exchange Franchised Business Pilot and perfect the payment environment of foreign currency". The Hainan Airlines Foreign Currency Company will set up exchange branches in airports in Hainan Province, star-rated hotels, tourist attractions and ports, and build foreign currency exchange networks covering the major areas in Hainan Province, which will greatly facilitate the currency exchange services to domestic and foreign tourists and create foreign exchange payment environment matching the International Tourism Destination.
For people in Hainan, they have one more choice in foreign currency exchange except to the banks.
The related person in charge of the Hainan Airlines Group Foreign Currency Exchange Company told the journalist that in accordance with the international conventions, the Individual Foreign Currency Exchange Market is commonly consist of banks, franchised foreign currency exchangers and some appointed merchants, constituting multilevel service system aiming at different guests and their features. Compared with the bank exchange service, the professional exchange company boasts for characteristics of long business time, variety of currencies, flexible business mechanism and specialized service. The customers are able to exchange their foreign currencies at any time. Besides common currencies of US dollar, euro and HKD (Hong Kong dollar), there are also minor currencies of KRW (Korean won), THB (Thai baht) and NTD (new Taiwan currency). The exchange rate is more flexible than that in banks. Meanwhile customers have the chance to enjoy specialized foreign currency exchange and related services in professional exchange company.
At present, the Hainan Airlines Foreign Currency Exchange Company is upgrading its exchange points to specialized and franchised exchange shops, including setting up professional exchange shops in international departure and arrival halls of Haikou Meilan International Airport, downtown of Haikou City, the international departure and arrival halls of Sanya Phoenix International Airport and downtown of Sanya City. It is predicted that all these exchange shops will be open in the coming August. Customers can go to these shops to experience new foreign currency exchange service by the moment.
