BEIJING: China Customs have surprised people with intentions to spend big money on real estate or luxury goods, as it limits the amount private citizens can transfer out of the country to $50,000 a year.
But those seeking to leave or enter China with large sums of undeclared currency, whether for tourism or more suspect activities, will soon have new four-legged officers to contend with cash-sniffing dogs.
This week, the deputy commissioner of the Chinese General Administration of Customs, Sun Yibiao, led a delegation to New Zealand, where he was briefed on a detector-dog training program that the country is helping China develop, the state-run news agency Xinhua reported.
“Trainers from New Zealand customs will provide assistance to China when they begin training their dogs,” the New Zealand customs minister, Nicky Wagner, said in a statement on Tuesday.
Mr. Sun also visited the New Zealand detector-dog base, according to the General Administration of Customs website. This will be China’s first cash-detecting dog program, though the country already employs dogs to track down contraband wildlife, drugs and explosives.
Enhancing surveillance capabilities has become more important for the Chinese authorities as President Xi Jinping’s far-reaching anticorruption campaign enters its third year. Officials suspected of corruption have been nabbed at the border while trying to abscond with their ill-gotten gains. Between April 2011 and early June 2012, Canadian border officials reportedly seized nearly $13 million in undeclared cash from Chinese travelers at the Toronto and Vancouver airports.
In New Zealand, Mr. Sun also discussed with Ms. Wagner ways to facilitate bilateral trade and efforts to counter drug trafficking. Relations between the two countries have strengthened since 2008, when New Zealand became the first developed country to sign a free-trade agreement with China. In 2013, China surpassed Australia to become New Zealand’s largest trading partner.
