Job Discussion Forums

[Bratty]

Happy Easter good peoples!

I'm doing the big shift to China in 3 weeks time, slowly getting excited. But, I have heard many different accounts through the grapevine about transferring money from China.

I will be transferring money to lil' ol' NZ, yes to the South Pacific Peso. I was told this is difficult to do.

Is this true? Where would be the best place to transfer my hard earned Renminbi!?

Cheers.

[MyTurnNow]

You're going to Changchun, aren't you? (Please correct me if I am wrong.)

If so, you will not have a lot of choices....their banks are primitive even by Chinese standards. Last I heard the Ag Bank/Western Union alliance was to US banks only. Deutsche Bank, HSBC, etc. do not have a retail presence there to my knowledge. It's been a while since I lived there so PLEASE double-check me on all this...sometimes stuff changes here quickly. Even in Changchun banks.

You may be stuck with the usual bank transfers through the Gang of Four- Bank of China, ISBC, Construction Bank, or Agricultural Bank. Doing it this way is pricey, slow, and prone to error and/or theft. (I DID once have money "disappear" from a Bank of China transfer!) Might look into China Everbright...they are in Changchun but I have no experience with them so I don't know if they are better. I wouldn't hold my breath.

Does your employer by any chance have a rep in NZ? If so, and if they are nice people (don't hold your breath on this one, either ), they might transfer the money within NZ and deduct it from your pay. The sleazeballs I worked for in Changchun briefly considered this and decided it wasn't worth their trouble. Perhaps you are luckier?

The only other choice would be shadier dealings such as buying travelers cheques and FedExing them home. I did this a few times with success. I did have one package returned to me, but the courier informed me that for a tiny additional bit of money my package would turn out to contain nothing but business papers. This, as they say, is China. But THIS IS ILLEGAL. You sends your money and you takes your chances. If you are at all risk-averse you may want to just settle for the usual bank transfer routes.

I hope that things have evolved a bit, or that someone else knows a route I don't, and your choices are better now!
MT

[Bratty]

Yip, that's me, heading to good old Changchun!

That seems like a lot of work! LOL. Surely wouldn't it be easier to open a bank account there and get a chequebook and sending it back that way?

[gerard]

There seem to be 1001 different opinions on this. If you are legal you can convert cash and wire it away. Apparently it is pricey though. My school tell me to wait 6 months and convert it all at once - that sounds best since I dont have monthly bills at home. It is also 1 service charge instead of 6. What I plan to do is convert to US and just hang on to it until I move on. If that is I have any money. The longer I am here the more expensive my habits.

[MyTurnNow]

I hate to be difficult (not true ) but these theories all have holes in them.

Bratty, I've been in China a good while now and I have never seen a check aside from a travelers cheque. Just not done here....there is no infrastructure for verification in retail stores and even in some banks. Considering the prevalence of counterfeit currency, you can understand certainly NOT trusting a check. Your pay will come as either cash in hand or a direct bank transfer.

Even if you could get a checking account, you'd have to set up a NZ$ account. Not easy but I suppose it's possible in some places. The RMB is not convertible...it's ostensibly worthless outside China. Hong Kong will convert them, but note the signs in other nearby places such as Tokyo's Narita Airport: "We do NOT convert RMB!". I think this may change soon but we aren't there yet. Any Chinese money you carry out immediately becomes a souvenir when you cross the border.

As for saving it all up, converting it in one lump, and carrying it out, note a risk: You are only legally allowed to carry out so much foreign currency. Anything above your limit is subject to a stiff tax. And trying to smuggle it out will NOT be taken lightly. Sure, there's little chance the lobotomized Customs goon at the airport will ever see it, but you ARE running a risk with this plan. The more money you carry out the bigger the risk becomes. And please note that the newer currency of many countries, as well as travelers cheques, have things built into them that will show up in a scan...strangely enough, to prevent currency smuggling and to make traveling drug czars a bit more noticeable.

Be careful!
MT

[Bratty]

clear as mud!

maybe just converting to US$ travellers cheques will be easier and posting them in a letter!

[noyb]

Has anybody ever had experience getting lost travellers cheques replaced in China?

Anybody ever NOT had an instance of things getting lost in the local postal system??

From where you are, maybe the easiest and cheapest way to get your money back home is to open a foreign currency (US$ and/or HK$) account at Bank of China. Immediately thereafter, apply for their new international ATM card denominated in either US dollars or Hong Kong dollars. The international ATM card can be used anywhere throughout the world where you find an ATM machine with the Cirrus / MasterCard symbol.

You could send the card home and have someone periodically withdraw your money for you and deposit it into your home bank account.

The fee is 50 RMB a year for the card and about 3% of each ATM withdrawl. It can be cheaper, faster and more reliable than wiring money through the bank.

[Bratty]

And i don't have to be a US citizen to open up this US$ account? Maybe that's a better idea!

[juneinchina]

I am just going along this very same path, after teaching here for the past two months and having been paid in RMBs.
I have been to the banks and the post offices. Long and ardous! Now I understand before I can send money anywhere (by DD, or TT, or through Western Union) I have to convert it to another currency.
This, apparently, is OK to do, and my FAO should be able to help me convert up to 70% of my salary (the percentage should have been written in my contract, but I forgot to check that bit ).
So...I am going back to my FAO and asking for help in converting the RMBs, and failing that am now looking at Macau and Hong Kong for a small holiday. I have heard it is legal to convert RMBs to HK dollars, and then to open a HK bank account. From there I should be able to use the Internet to transfer the miney to my VISA account in Australia.
Whew!
Can anybody see anywhere I am going wrong? Will I have problems in opening an account in HK?
Any advice gratefully rec'd!
PS: I'm saving money! About 5000 yuan a month...living here is so cheap! But saving is a bit useless to me if I can't pay my rent back home. Perhaps I'd better buy a silk carpet and take that home, instead. I wonder if my landlord will like it instead of rent...hmmm...!!!

[MyTurnNow]

This new international ATM card is a revelation and was badly needed. It sounds like a great solution to a sticky problem. Thanks, noyb.

There should be no difficulty setting up a bank account in HK...none I'm aware of anyway. Not sure where you're located, but how do you transfer money from China to the HK bank without making periodic trips there? Could be quite a "fee"...

I understand the apprehension about sending travelers cheques. Maybe I was just lucky...I only did this a few times, but I never lost anything doing this, which is more than I can say for using the Bank of China. And I can only imagine the difficulty getting cheques replaced here, but you DID get your money back eventually, yes???

MT

[noyb]

You wouldn't need a bank account in Hong Kong if you use the Bank of China international debit card. It's all handled on the Mainland.

However, setting up a bank account in Hong Kong is quite easy. You'll need to appear with a valid passport and whatever the minimum amount is for the initial deposit. For a US$ account it might be about $300 and possibly the equivalent in other currency accounts. Make sure you are aware of the account maintenance fees!!!

I'm in Guangzhou so in the pre-SARS days I would go to Hong Kong frequently. Now it's a different story.

As for getting money from the Mainland to Hong Kong without bothersome and, now, risky trips, I use the online@hsbc system associated with my Mainland HSBC foreign currency account to transfer money to my HSBC Hong Kong account. The fee is only 100 RMB and I have never had to wait more than one business day to see the money materialize in HK.

Actually, one could just let the money accumulate in their Mainland account just as well. I *do* agree that the Gang-of-4-Banks on the Mainland are likely to be as safe as any other banks on the Mainland, but just color me psychotic; I have a psychological aversion to keeping money in any Mainland bank for long.

By the way, the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) also has their version of the same international debit card that Bank of China has. However, in my opinion, ICBC's is much better. BoC's is *only* an ATM card. ICBC's also carries the Visa symbol and works as a Visa card for in-store purchases around the world. You can also beat the ATM machine daily cash limits by getting a cash advance over the counter, which cannot be done with the BoC card.

[gerard]

juneinchina-----The amount you can convert is actually 30% not 70%. I asked my boss about this last week when we dotted the i's on my contract. The figure is set by the authorities here and cannot be changed. Was also told by her to use the "money changer" guys,. Watch them get it from the teller so you know it;s not funny money. But then you can't send it since it puts you over 30%. Errr,I think. At this point I think I will just live it up and forget saving...

[Brendon]

A couple of questions?

The Bank of China international card is that the Great Wall Card that you are talking about?
Also what do you need to open a Foreign Currency account there

[Bratty]

that's what i was wondering!

[gmat]

Gerard,
The amount you can convert is 70%. Glad I don't have your boss!