An employee of Lin'an Rural Commercial Bank counts banknotes at the bank's branch in Xitianmu area in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, on Feb 25, 2020. (HU JIANHUAN / FOR CHINA DAILY)

BEIJING - Any commercial bank that has physical outlets must provide cash deposit and withdrawal services, two authorities said on Monday.

The People's Bank of China and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission said cash services play a vital role in serving the real economy and stabilizing the monetary and financial systems

Despite the generally good quality of cash services nationwide, cash refusal occurs occasionally in the society and some banking institutions have shown a decline in willingness to handle cash transactions, according to a meeting held by the People's Bank of China and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission.

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Deeming cash as a fundamental and essential part of financial services, the two authorities said that cash services play a vital role in serving the real economy and stabilizing the monetary and financial systems.

They urged banking institutions to strengthen regulation and management of cash services, improve the cleanliness of cash in circulation and step up the exchange of small-denomination yuan cash.   

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The outstanding M0, the amount of cash in circulation, had risen 7.7 percent year on year to 9.08 trillion yuan ($1.43 trillion) by the end of last year. The central bank injected net cash of 651 billion yuan into the market in 2021.