In international settlements, cash settlement and bookkeeping settlement are rarely used. Generally, bills are used as settlement tools. However, due to differences in laws of various countries, the concept of bills is not exactly the same.
In a general and narrow sense, bills refer to a kind of negotiable securities that the drawer promises or entrusts others (payers) to pay a certain amount to the payee or holder unconditionally upon sight or on a specified date, and are circulated and transferred. There are mainly three types: bills of exchange, promissory notes and checks. In a broad sense, bills refer to all commercial rights certificates, including all commodity securities (such as bills of lading, warehouse receipts, etc.) and monetary securities (such as bills of exchange, promissory notes, checks, insurance policies, current certificates of deposit, short-term certificates of deposit, treasury bills and short-term bonds, etc.). This book adopts the concept of bills in a narrow sense.
According to the “Bills of Exchange Law of the People’s Republic of China” (hereinafter referred to as my country’s “Bills of Exchange Law”), my country’s bills are divided into bills of exchange, checks and promissory notes. Bills of exchange are divided into bank drafts and commercial drafts. Commercial drafts can be further divided into bank acceptance drafts and commercial acceptance drafts; checks are divided into transfer checks, cash checks and ordinary checks; promissory notes refer specifically to bank promissory notes.