Banks and other financial institutions in China will have to report all domestic and overseas cash transactions larger than 50,000 yuan ($7,201.50), compared with 200,000 yuan previously, the central bank said on Friday.

Ma Jun, chief economist of the People's Bank of China (PBOC), said the responsibility of reporting such transactions will be assumed by financial institutions, and there will be no extra documentation or official approval procedures required for companies or individuals, according to the Xinhua report issued late on Sunday.

Ma added that other major economies have similar rules.

China is maintaining the same quota of $50,000 for each individual's annual foreign exchange purchase.

The central bank has said the recent move was aimed at better monitoring of money laundering and financing for terrorism rather than targeting normal business activities, Xinhua said.

Beijing has announced a string of rules in recent months to stem capital outflows after its yuan currency skidded to more than eight-year lows.

(Reporting by Chen Aizhu and Cheng Fang; Editing by Kim Coghill)

South Korean authorities had asked for Interpol's help in tracing Ms Chung after she failed to return to answer questions about her role in the scandal.
They are reportedly planning to extradite Ms Chung, a former national equestrian rider.

Her mother Ms Choi is in detention having returned from abroad to face questioning.
She has been charged with various offences, including abuse of authority, coercion, attempted coercion and attempted fraud.
South Korea's constitutional court has six months to uphold or overturn to impeachment vote against Ms Park.
Until then she remains formally president but stripped of her powers, which have been handed to the prime minister, a presidential appointee.

But not everyone is excited about the new coin.
Some businesses have expressed concern about the change since the new coin has a different shape and weight, meaning it will not fit into most existing vending machines, lockers and shopping carts.
The Automatic Vending Association estimates it will cost the industry £32 million ($39 million) to ensure the 500,000 vending machines across the U.K. are ready to accept the new coins.
new 1 pound coin
The 'tails' side of the new £1 coin was designed by British teenager David Pearce.
The Treasury is launching a public awareness campaign to ensure everyday people spend their old £1 coins or return them to the bank before October 15. They'll become legally worthless on that date.
The Treasury notes that some of the returned coins will be recycled and used to create the new coins, which will be made by the Royal Mint in Llantrisant, Wales.

Microsatellites vary in length from about 10 to several dozen centimeters. They are drawing attention as their low cost offers new opportunities. Mini-rockets are made for such satellites.

Interstellar Technologies, a venture company in Hokkaido, northern Japan, is developing low-cost mini-rockets. The firm has just over 10 employees.

The company plans to carry out a test-launch in March, sending a rocket more than 100 kilometers above the Earth. If it is successful, this will be the first test-launch of a rocket developed solely by a private firm in Japan.

Tokyo-based Axelspace also has just over 10 employees. It plans to start a project this year to launch a total of 50 microsatellites that can photograph large areas of the Earth every day.

Takafumi Matsui is the deputy chief of the space policy committee set up by the Cabinet Office. Matsui says nurturing the space industry will be an important pillar of the Japanese government's policies as space technology can have practical applications for society.

Matsui says companies around the world view the launching of microsatellites as a promising business and he believes many Japanese firms can enter this sector.

He adds that training personnel in this field will be important.

The bank, Germany's biggest, last week announced a $7.2 billion settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice over its sale and pooling of mortgage securities in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis.

"The management board in principle looks at everything that could help the business," Achleitner said in an interview with the weekly newspaper published on Sunday.

"At the moment, however, enthusiasm for a pan-European merger is muted as we have other priorities," he said, when asked why Deutsche does not merge with Italy's UniCredit (CRDI.MI) or another lender.

Deutsche, which is trying to simplify its operations to make it more efficient, will keep its investment banking operations and ensure they comply with political and regulatory rules, Achleitner said.

Supervisors including Germany's Bundesbank and the European Central Bank have called for more consolidation in the banking sector, saying there are still too many banks despite a steady fall in the number of branches since the 2008 financial crisis.

Higher capital requirements would put European banks at a competitive disadvantage to their U.S. rivals, Achleitner said, referring to efforts by the Basel committee of supervisors to tighten bank capital rules to avoid a repeat financial crisis.

"The global rules, established with the Basel accord, must not one-sidedly reflect the views of the Americans," Achleitner said.

The former finance chief of Allianz (ALVG.DE) said European banks needed to defend their interests more vigorously against rivals in the United States where lenders are helped by state-sponsored bodies such as Fannie Mae, allowing them to shed part of the risk of mortgages.

"It's obvious that national interests are increasingly being defined and represented in a more robust fashion," Achleitner said. "It's about time that we Europeans stand up for our interests too."

Separately, Achleitner said government aid for players in the financial industry would not become an issue in Germany.

"No one in Germany needs to worry about rescuing banks," said Achleitner, who confirmed he will stand for re-election as chairman at the bank's annual general meeting in May.

By contrast, the Italian government has earmarked 20 billion euros ($21 billion) to bolster its ailing lenders.

The Bank of Italy said on Thursday that total costs for the state bailout of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena (BMPS.MI) would come to about 6.6 billion euros.

(Reporting by Andreas Cremer; editing by Gareth Jones/Ruth Pitchford

The new TVs will have panels that use organic light-emitting diodes and are so light and thin that they can be fitted on walls like windows, or hung like pictures, according to industry sources familiar with the project. The premium TV, which may come in a few sizes starting from 50-plus inches, could be available in the market as early as the first quarter of 2017.

"LG plans to introduce its new high-quality TV, which is very light and thin at the CES. It can be hung on the wall like a window or a picture," an industry source, asking not to be named, told Nikkei Asian Review. "The company completed its preparations for the production. The TVs will be released in the market a few weeks after the CES."

The CES, one of the largest consumer electronics exhibitions in the world, will be held from Jan. 5 to 8.

Another source said that OLED panels used in the new model are slimmer than the 2.5mm ultra-slim panel applied in LG's Signature OLED TV. The model will be the slimmest on the market, but he did not reveal how thin they are. The OLED panels will be supplied by its affiliate LG Display.

Sources said that LG Electronics was betting everything on the TV to keep its leading position in the premium OLED television market. OLED sets now account for about 1% of global television sales in value terms, with LG Electronics controlling most of that meager share.

Earlier last month, Sony announced that it would put OLED TVs on shelves worldwide by summer 2017. The Japanese electronics and media giant said it would source panels from LG Display and draw on its own proprietary technology for image processing.

Panasonic put a 65-inch OLED model on sale in Europe in 2015 and now plans to bring the sets to Japan and Southeast Asia as early as April. Toshiba is scrambling to develop OLED sets of its own. Samsung Electronics, meanwhile, has halted the introduction of new OLED offerings after selling the sets for a time.

LG Display is the frontrunner in the OLED TV panels. The company holds a near monopoly in the market, giving its Japanese rival Sony little choice but to source key components from the display affiliate of LG group.

But, more panel-makers are now challenging the market leader. Japan's JOLED, whose stakeholders include Sony, Panasonic and Japan Display, is developing panels of the size used in televisions. China's BOE Technology Group is working on similar offerings.

Xi made the call in a letter sent to Russian President Vladimir Putin, South African President Jacob Zuma, Brazilian President Michel Temer and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to brief the leaders on China's blueprint for promoting BRICS cooperation during Chinese presidency over the bloc in 2017.

China will host the ninth BRICS leaders' summit in Xiamen, a coastal city in southeast China's Fujian Province, in September, Xi said.

Over the past decade, BRICS countries have made joint efforts to yield fruits in cooperating on politics, economy and people-to-people exchanges, Xi said.

BRICS countries have also made great strides in their leaders' summits, which has injected new dynamism into their cooperation, he added.

"The BRICS cooperation, a model for cooperation among emerging markets and that among developing countries, has brought benefits to people of BRICS nations and made great contributions to boosting global economic growth, improving global governance and promoting the democratization of international relations," Xi said.

In the second decade for BRICS cooperation starting in 2017, BRICS nations will make greater progress in their cooperation and play a bigger role in international affairs, the Chinese president said.

Facing growing uncertainties and instabilities in international situation, BRICS countries need to enhance solidarity and cooperation and safeguard common interests, he said.

Xi said the Xiamen summit will focus on four aspects -- deepening pragmatic cooperation for common development; enhancing global governance to jointly counter challenges; carrying out people-to-people exchanges to consolidate public support for cooperation; promoting mechanism building to construct broader partnership.

"In accordance with an open, inclusive and win-win BRICS spirit, China will work with other BRICS countries to make the Xiamen summit a success and move forward BRICS cooperation to a new level," Xi said.

The BRIC cooperative mechanism was established in 2006. The first BRIC summit was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in 2009. South Africa was admitted by the other BRIC leaders in 2010, adding the "S" to the original grouping. Eight BRICS summits have taken place so far.

The organizing committee had planned to cover the entire cost of the Games. But the committee wants Tokyo, the central government, and local authorities to make up the cost overrun of 950 billion yen, or about 8.1 billion dollars.

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike has said she accepts making up part of the shortfall, but she has been calling on the central government to chip in.

The cabinet minister in charge of the Tokyo Games, Tamayo Marukawa, says Tokyo and other local governments should basically cover the cost.

Ten local governments are strongly opposed to the new financial burden. They say the organizing committee should stick to the initial plan.

Existing venues outside Tokyo need to be made barrier-free and add more spectator seats.

Officials say the cost of remodeling such facilities depends on whether the makeover is temporary or permanent. They say another factor is who will pay for it.

Critics say that since time is limited, the parties involved need to agree on cost-sharing as soon as possible.