China is still facing a tough situation in anti-money laundering, said You Quan, deputy secretary-general of China's State Council.

He called on relevant departments to establish a coordinated system and speed up building of a corresponding legal system with Anti-money laundering Law as the core.

You Quan made the remarks while attending a conference on anti-money laundering in Beijing on Friday, which was chaired by Xiang Junbo, vice governor of the People's Bank of China (PBOC).

There is still a room to improve for China's anti-money laundering efforts compared with international standard and the requirement of building a perfect market-oriented economic system, You said.

Participants of the conference included representatives from 23departments such as the State Council, the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Public Security and Finance as well as the State Foreign Exchange Administration.

A report on China's anti-money laundering effort in 2004, published by China's central bank on July 12, showed that the country had made "outstanding achievements" in anti-money laundering in previous year.

A total of 50 money-laundering cases were jointly investigated by police, the central bank and the State Foreign Exchange Administration last year. These cases involved 570 million yuan (US$70 million) and US$447 million.

China became an observer of the Financial Action Task Force on Anti-Money Laundering (FATF) in January this year. It aims to become a member of the group in 2006.

(Xinhua News Agency September 5, 2005)