(Yicai Global) Nov. 26 -- Regulators in China have fined e-commerce giant JD.Com's online cross-border payment unit CNY29.4 million (USD4.2 million) for illegally transferring foreign exchange funds overseas.

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange's Beijing office penalized Chinabank Payments Beijing Technology under Article 39 of China's regulations governing foreign exchange, the 21st Century Business Herald reported. No further details were given.

Payment service providers can only make forex transfers between countries for real cross-border transactions, according to the laws and regulations. If they are found to have deposited forex abroad or transferred domestic capital overseas illegally, they will be ordered to repatriate the funds and will be fined 30 percent of the amount involved. In serious cases a fine of 30 percent to 100 percent of the amount can be imposed.

Chinabank Payments is a wholly owned unit of JD.Com and was granted a cross-border payment license from the SAFE in 2014.

The Beijing-based unit has more than 500,000 merchant partners conducting a wide range of businesses including hotel bookings, air tickets, remittances for studying abroad as well as the import and export of goods. It also provides a full range of internet financial payment solutions for companies.