Updated July 2, 2020
Transferring money to/from China from/to overseas is one of the common challenges faced by most of the expats (myself included) living/working in China.
In this blog-post, I will share some simple, convenient, cheapest and easiest ways to bring money to China. You can also find more about How to transfer money from China to overseas (Europe/USA).
How To Bring Money To China?
The following first two methods (AliPay and TransferWise) are the newer, and arguably the best hassle free ways to bring money to China.
Use AliPay TourPass
AliPay is one of the top third-party mobile and online payment processing App in China. It belongs to the Alibaba Group, founded by Chinese billionaire Jack Ma/Ma Yun.
AliPay is also available in English (although many functions are only in Chinese).
The good news is that even a foreigner can have an AliPay account. Once you open your account, you can link your credit/debit card (s) to make payments.
I’m a foreigner, I live in China and certainly don’t have a Chinese ID. However, I use AliPay virtually every day as I make most of my payments using AliPay. My local Chinese debit card, and an international VISA card, are both linked to the AliPay account.
AliPay can also be used to transfer money to/from China from/to overseas.
However, to transfer money from China to overseas, you need a Chinese ID number. More in the next post (How to transfer money from China to overseas?).
Fortunately, to Top Up your AliPay (aka bring forex/money to China), you don’t need a Chinese ID number. Your passport ID will suffice.
Well, you can bind your international credit/debit card to AliPay account. I think this is of the most recommended way to bring your money in China.
How to use AliPay to bring money to China?
Just search “TourPass” in AliPay search and follow the instructions.
You can use TourPass even if you don’t have a Chinese ID card. Basically, TourPass allows you to link your international credit/debit card to AliPay. Then you can use AliPay as if you have a local Chinese bank card. Exchange rates apply.
TransferWise To Get Money To China
Money can be transferred from a TransferWise account (free Sign Up) to a Chinese bank account linked UnionPay bank card. However, the Chinese bank account must be opened with a Chinese ID card (Shen Fen Zheng, 身份证), not with an international passport ID number.
Here is the official info from TransferWise (June 2020):
“You can send CNY to private individuals who have a UnionPay bank card or an Alipay ID. They must have opened their bank account with a Chinese national ID card — we can’t send CNY to accounts opened with a passport, driver’s licence or military document.”
You can transfer about 31,000 CNY per transaction from your TransferWise balance account to a Chinese bank account (opened with Shen Fen Zheng). It takes about 2 working days before the money is deposited in the Chinese bank account.
However, I’m sure that most of the foreigners don’t have a Shen Fen Zheng.
SO?
Well, you can send money from your TransferWise account to one of your reliable Chinese friend’s account, let him pay you the Chinese Yuan.
You may also consider finding a girlfriend/boyfriend in China. 🙂
Now let’s look at a few traditional ways to bring your money to China.
Bring Cash To China
How much cash can we bring into China? Well, when you come to China, you can carry up to RMB 20,000 cash through customs with you. No questions asked!
You can also bring any international currency up to US $5,000 without declaring to the Chinese customs.
Beyond these two limits, you must declare the amount to the Chinese customs.
However, economically, it wouldn’t be the best option to bring a foreign currency to China. Well, the exchange rates in China are often not that great (including those at the international airports), of course, unless you are lucky.
Traveler’s Checks
You can also bring traveler’s checks to China; however, once you are in China, it would be time consuming to convert the traveler’s checks into cash. Too much of language problems in China!
Unless you have some local friend helping you, it might require a day or two before you find the buyer of your traveler’s checks and finally have Chinese yuan in your hands.
Use Local ATM Machines To Get Cash
This is another way to ensure that you never run out of cash in China. Most of the ATM machines in the mainland China accept international debit cards (especially the VISA and MasterCard). Don’t forget the PIN number of your card. 🙂
However, there would be charges for each transaction.
During my initial days in China, I’d often use my international VISA debit card to withdraw money and I’d pay US$5 to 10 for each transition. Moreover, even for account balance inquiries, I’d be charged.
Not to mention, you may have to activate your card for international transactions and your bank may impose some daily withdrawal limits for international currencies.
Pay By Credit Card And PayPal
You can certainly make payments in China with international credit cards. Most of the hotels and travel agencies may accept payments by foreign credit card. Some of the hotels do accept PayPal as well. However, not always!
PayPal, it’s not all that popular in China.
In fact, the most popular ways of making payments in China are by AliPay and WeChat Pay.
Wire Transfer Your Money to China
Yes, Wire Transfer of your money to China is another great way to bring forex to China. However, you’ll need to have a local bank account (or UnionPay Card). If you don’t have one, find a local friend who can help you. Keep in mind that the Wire Transfer charges are often quite high as the money is routed via multiple banks/intermediaries.
Check Payments
Some big banks in China, such as Bank of China (Zhong Guo Yin Hang, 中国银行), can process foreign bank checks (as you’d issue the check in your home country). However, you may have to visit the bank and some language troubles are bound to happen.
To sum up, try AliPay’s TourPass, this is the best option to bring forex to China. Otherwise, find a Chinese (girl/boy-) friend. You’ll anyways need friends in China as you wouldn’t know the Mandarin language. In any case, having a TransferWise account (free Sign Up) is recommended. I mean you can always find a friend in China who can help you process the TransferWise payments.