Chinese online travel companies are complaining about the new circular issued this week from the People's Bank of China that requires that the value of a single online purchase should not be more than RMB1000 and that of daily accumulated purchases should not exceed RMB5000, except when the purchase is conducted with an e-signature.

Local media report that this week some online travel companies have seen drops of up to two-thirds in their business. Others complain that consumers will go to offline agencies to book tickets because of the hassles involved in conducting two separate transactions for tickets costing over RMB1000.

Called E-payment Guide (No. 1) the new circular from the People's Bank of China also asks that each of China's banks use prudence to arrange reasonable limits on different kinds of online and offline transactions.

For example, an enterprise client must not pay more than RMB50000 to an individual client each day, unless the bank and the client have pre-signed an agreement proving the validity of the payment.

The People's Bank of China says this guide has been drafted to regulate e-payment activities to promote the healthy development of e-payment and e-commerce in China.

Online shopping service providers such as Taobao and eBay Eachnet say this new policy will not affect them much because most of the purchases on their website are within the set value range.