Is forex trading legal in China?

This page is about mainland China. There, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) is responsible for the foreign exchange field, and the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) for securities, funds and futures. SAFE publishes lists of the institutions it has qualified for foreign exchange business, and the CSRC publishes a directory of futures companies.

The four quotes below are in their original language, simplified Chinese. In English, they say the following.

The first comes from a SAFE notice of 10 May 2019 on cases of illegal online forex trading platforms. SAFE says that, at present, the domestic regulators have not approved any institution to conduct forex margin business in China or to act as its agent. Referring to a 1994 notice of the CSRC, SAFE, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce and the Ministry of Public Security, it says that forex futures and forex margin trading by institutions without approval is illegal, and that clients, both entities and individuals, who trade through such institutions also act illegally, whether the margin is paid in foreign currency or in renminbi.

The second comes from a SAFE reply of 11 June 2008 to its Shenzhen branch about illegal online forex trading. It says that individuals in China who trade foreign exchange, including forex margin trading, must do so through domestic financial institutions holding the relevant business qualification; that no entity or individual may run forex margin trading without the approval or filing consent of the industry regulator; that the rights of both parties to such trading are not protected by law; and that organising or taking part in it counts as illegal foreign exchange business and private buying and selling of foreign exchange.

The third is article 6 of the Measures for the Administration of Online Marketing of Financial Products, issued by the People’s Bank of China, the CSRC, SAFE and five other authorities (announcement No. 9 of 2026, dated 21 April 2026, applying from 30 September 2026), as published on the CSRC’s website. No institution or individual may provide online marketing services or facilitation for illegal financial activities. The article defines these as currency, payment, deposit-taking, lending, insurance, securities, fund, futures, foreign exchange and other business carried on without a licence from the financial regulators or against state financial rules, and lists among them illegal forex margin trading, the issuance and trading of virtual currencies, and offshore institutions providing financial products or services to residents of China without a licence.

The fourth comes from the implementation plan of the CSRC and seven other authorities against illegal cross-border securities, futures and fund business, dated 9 May 2026 and published in abridged form on 22 May 2026. It says that an offshore institution that carries on securities, futures or fund business in China without the approval of the State Council’s securities regulator is engaged in illegal cross-border business, which is to be banned.

None of the quoted texts mentions contracts for difference (CFDs) by name. Before you deal with a firm, look it up in the CSRC’s directory of futures companies and in SAFE’s lists of qualified institutions (links below).