CAPITAL CONTROLS: Companies Face Delays Getting Cash Out of China. “New regulations aimed at slowing the yuan’s decline create confusion for multinationals.”

As of late November, firms that want to exchange yuan into dollars in China now need approval for any transaction greater than $5 million. They also face tighter limits on amounts they can transfer in and out of bank accounts in China to affiliates in other countries, in a practice known as “cross-border sweeping.”

“We hear a lot questions from corporates about whether they will be able to repatriate their money in the future,” said Alexander Tietze, managing director at Acon Actienbank AG, a German bank that advises companies on Chinese investments. He expects foreign investments in China to slow, and cautioned that foreign takeovers or plans for new joint ventures could fail because of the controls.

With the Chinese economy struggling, multinationals have fewer opportunities to reinvest there, which makes it more difficult for them to do much with money trapped in China.

A weak yuan threatens China with a balance-of-payments crisis and a severe currency contraction. But tightening currency controls does nothing good for the country’s business climate — or the strength of the yuan.