Does anyone know if there is any exception to the $50,000 limit on transferring money out of China?

[banjo67xxx]

Hi,

We're selling our property in China, and would like to bring back half the money to the UK to purchase a buy-to-let property here.

When we wired the money to China in 2006 there was a $10,000 daily limit on currency exchange but we were able to take in a whole load of paperwork and exchange all £80,000 to RMB in one day.

Under the new rules I understand that there is no daily limit, and its just an annual limit of $50,000 for currency exchange and/or international transfer out of China. I cant find anything which gives an exception to this rule, like last time.

We need to transfer 1,500,000元 to the UK this time. We only know 1 person we trust enough to give 308,000元 to transfer to our UK bank, but we'd need another 3 people if we were to use this method.

I'm sure customs wouldn't allow us through with 6Kg of gold bullion in our hand luggage, even if it was just a trip to Hong Kong, and we'd be too scared of being robbed anyway.

My cousin-in-law used a Chinese credit card to buy a £230,000 rolex in London, but I'm sure he got a bum exchange rate and had to pay the credit card company several % in exchange charges (he didn't care as he's a millionaire). Also my soliticor would want another 5% for credit card fees even if you could buy a house with Mastercard/Visa.

Does anyone have any experience of transferring large sums of money out of China without incurring huge fees?

Thanks,

Banjo.

[imron]

We only know 1 person we trust enough to give 308,000元 to transfer to our UK bank,

You don't need to trust them. Sit with them there in the bank and have the bank teller directly take the money from your account and then use that person's Chinese name and ID to send the money to your UK account. No physical money is involved.

[PengHaoShi]

There is no such limitation. You can transfer as much as you want and you also can exchange as much as you want. For exchange and transfer you only have to give evidence where the money is coming from. Go to your bank and talk with them. I'm doing such transfers for my company every week and I've also transferred a bigger amount of Euro from my China Citybank account to a German account a few years ago. Took me 2 or 3 days, then the money was in my German account.

The 50.000 $ threshhold is only for money exchange without the need of providing any proof where the money is coming from or where the money will be used. If you have the money and want to buy a 300.000 £ Rolls Royce in China, you can transfer the money into China and change it into RMB . The only thing is, you have to give proof of the purchase, such as sales contract, fapiao, etc. when you exchange it.

[HedgePig]

Unless it's changed very recently, there are limitations on how much you can legally convert from RMB to foreign currency. I'm not aware of any restrictions on the amount you may transfer out, once you have foreign currency, although there may be. If it's salary you are converting, you will need proof of tax payment as well your salary slip as well and employment contract.

[banjo67xxx]

Thanks for the replies.

My wife checked again with her bank and discovered that because she opened her bank account using her Chinese ID she would not be able to change/transfer more than $50,000/year regardless of what paperwork she shows. However, if she changes the bank account verification to her passport and a foreign residence visa, then that enables her to change/transfer unlimited amounts so long as she can document the source of the larger sums of money.

[roddy]

Hi Banjo, 

 

What happened in the end? 

[banjo67xxx]

Hi Roddy,

 

By the time her passport with the ILR Visa stamp arrived via Fedex she didn't have time to go to the bank before she left China. She's going back again this week, but hopefully we dont need to move any more money, so we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

 

Thanks,

Banjo.