Job Discussion Forums

[anne]

Okay,
I've been reading this forum for awhile and now and again people elude to difficulties getting money out of China... I've really only just arrived but will be leaving again in under 5 months. At the end of my contract I'm supposed to be getting paid the full cost of my airfare which amounts to over $2000 canadian dollars (my husband will get another $2000). I'll get it in RMB but hope to have my school work out getting USD.... Can i get it out of China easily?

What do most people do with the money they've been paid in cash RMB? Can you just convert it at the bank? Does your school need to change it for you? Can you change RMB elsewhere?

Thanks in advance for any insight on the $ situation.

anne

[Roger]

apparently, you haven't read about money conversion in China often enough!
To begin with, a lot depends on whether you are legal or not. Even if you have full documentation, it is usually a lot of hassles at the bank. The rules may be straitforward - you must prove that you earned the funds legally, and have been approved to change most of it into foreign currency - but the bank tellers are not in the full know who is in charge of what, and you end up lining up here and then lining up there. Some schools convert your salary into foreign currency on their own if you ask them (mine can), and that's a whole world better.
The last resort is to take all your earnings to Hong Kong, still in China but a separate economic territory with its own currency that's freely convertible.
The only legal snag is the upper limit to what you can take out of the mainland - currently set at somewhere near 10'000 RMB (but customs people are not likely to check your money when you leave).