Job Discussion Forums

[naturegirl321]

So now I've got a Z visa and want to send some of this RMB home and convert it to USD.
What is the procedure and what percentage can I send home? And then what am I supposed to do with the percentage that I can't send home?!

[Wolf]

The percentage of funds I'm legally allowed to convert is stamped in my Foreign Expert Certificate.

It's probably best to first convert the money to US$ then try to send it home.

Using Western Union seems to be an option (depending if there's a branch available where you are in China and where you want to send it in the US). This is not an option for me, personally. Look here and here

I myself telegraphically transfer money into an account back home. This can be done at the "main branches" of the Bank of China.

[struelle]

[Wolf]

[MyTurnNow]

Hi!

Any money you want to send out of China, regardless of the method you use, must first be converted into another currency. The RMB is not freely convertible, and on the retail level can't really be changed outside of China. This is starting to change a bit as more Chinese travel abroad, but in general your RMB still becomes a souvenir once it leaves China. Even in Hong Kong, RMB are of very limited use and must be converted into HK$ if you want to spend it. HK and other southeast Asian countries that interact with China a lot will have a lot of places to convert RMB, but this won't be true in America, Canada, Europe, etc. Fly via Tokyo's Narita airport some time- note that all the currency exchange counters have big signs up saying that they don't accept RMB.

It sounds like you want to send money to the USA? If so I highly recommend using Western Union to do so...it's by far the cheapest, safest, most hassle-free way to do it. Western Union services can be had at the largest branches of the Agricultural Bank of China...ask for the "provincial level" branch. Most towns of any size at all have a bank offering this, but if you're somewhere really small you may have to travel to a larger town to find it. The charge for sending up to $500 is $15 and I think $501-1000 is $18. You can send bigger amounts but I don't know the fee. Note that you must pay the fee in dollars so be sure and convert enough to cover it. You'll need to bring your passport, too.

I can confirm that you CAN'T buy travelers cheques with RMB...I've only been able to find dollar-denominated ones. So you still have to convert to dollars first...

If you quite understandably don't want to use the banks to convert money, ask through Chinese friends or school staff for methods to convert your RMB to dollars. If you're lucky someone will know someone who can take care of you...a savvy school FA person should know how to do this. If you use the black market but don't go through a friend-of-a-friend, I recommend asking a Chinese friend to do it for you if possible...don't tag along on this one. People will see a foreigner and the rates will go up.

The "percentage" a lot of schools offer has to do with conversion, not sending outside the country. There are official legal limits to expatriating money from China; I don't recall the exact amounts. Unfortunately, the limits are usually larger than most English teachers have to worry about.

Good luck,
MT

[catweasle]

Hi,
I went back to Australia earlier this year (May) and had no difficulty changing 12,000 RMB into A$ at the Thomas Cook desk, Perth Airport, as soon as I arrived. Rates were lousy, tho'
It was 5am, and I had little Aussi cash. I asked the guy behind the counter if they exchanged RMB and he said they would change as much as I liked.
Oh, and before I left, I had had no difficulty buying RMB in Perth

[Minhang Oz]

I'm pleased but surprised by Catweasel's anecdote. Most Australians think RMB is a kind of music. I don't think I'd take it back to my OZ hometown.
My solution, and it only works in the Big City; find a local branch of a foreign bank, your home country's may be best. Open an RMB account and stash your savings there. Find out what docs. they need to do a transfer, and hey presto! I pay the mortgage every two months this way, and it takes 10 minutes.

[MyTurnNow]

[clomper]

I haven't tried sending money yet or changing RMB to US$ .. Thanks for the tip.. I think I'll go through the bank. I don't have the FEC and you said that you don't need it.

Anyway, I'll inform you how it goes using a bank.. I opened a US$ account in the Philippines with BoC. The lady in the Philippines said it's ok to transfer money. The rate there is US$3.3 per transaction. I'm not quite sure here.

Hopefully, we have a Western Union as well.

[catweasle]

Hi Once Again,
Exchange rate was lousy, less than 5 yuan to the dollar, but the dollar was really strong that week.

[Asynca]

Could we do the foreign bank thing the OTHER way? Ie, are there any banks Melbourne, Australia that you can open an account with RMB currancy?

Or, are there any banks in Beijing that will allow you to store Australian dollars instead of RMB?

These two methods sound like the easiest (and possibly cheapest) way of transfering money backwards and forewards.

[catweasle]

Before I returned to China I tried to find out more about the money transferring complications from the HSBC. Even when I was enquiring about offshore accounts with their international people, I hit blanks and misunderstandings. Maybe I was using the wrong terminology, dunno.
I also tried talking to the HSBC, in Perth, face-to-face. After about 15 minutes of talking I gave up and decided to try to sort it out from this end. In fact, that is exactly what they suggested. The bank assistant couldn't seem to see what my problem was. She was totally unaware that there were any restrictions on the RMB. Oh, yes, they also wanted A$5000 for me to open a Perth account there. A bit too much for me to have sitting around at almost zilch interest.
For my next trick (drumroll....) I am going to try buying a money order (draft) from the post office and I'm going to mail it to my sister (only 50RMB) and ask her to try banking it....lol...I'll keep you posted.

[clomper]

Cat.. buy money draft in US$?? or in RMB??? If it works, do inform me. I need to send money back home.

I read the FAQs about Western Union.. they will pay it in the country's currency. I don't want it since the exchange rate might be much lower.

I tried the bank's way (Bank of China), they required FEC, tax receipt, copy of contract, and another stuff which I didn't understand. I just asked them to write it down and gave it to one of the school leaders.

I tried exchanging my RMB to US$ from the other banks, but they all pointed me to Bank of China.

[shenyanggerry]

I was able to change 30 percent of my salary. I chose US dollars. The redtape was a problem. The university had forgotten to include one form. Back to the school, find a legal signer, back to the bank. What should have taken 10 minutes took about four hours elapsed. In the end, I got exactly what was promised.

It was a real pain but DEMS DA RULES.

[Bookworm]