The Shanghai Branch of the China Bank of Communications today opened an on-line service for personal foreign exchange dealings, the first such in the country. Jin Dajian, president of the bank, told the press in Beijing on March 10 that the trading service marks a new era in the country's personal foreign exchange business.

The network service will make it more convenience for individual customers to conduct such business and search for bank data such as their own banking records and quotations of various foreign currencies.

Jin said this system is equipped with the most advanced hacker- proof technology to ensure the safety of the customer's personal data.

The Shanghai subsidiary first opened its personal foreign exchange business in 1991. Since then it has accumulated 4 billion U.S. dollars of transaction volume, and more than 190 million U.S. dollars of foreign exchange changed hands in the first two months of this year.