The Ways of Moving Money Out of China by Individuals
Jan 26, 2019

The Ways of Moving Money Out of China by Individuals

Image result for USD 50,000 per year China
USD 50,000 per year?

This is a hot topic in today’s China: how to move money in China to a foreign country. With the backdrop of the trade-war and tech-war between China and USA simmering with no assuring sign of cooling down, China economy has been hurt somehow, and 2019 is a tough year for China and in the meantime, United States is still looking buoyant, there is a strong demand for investing in USA. The question is: how to take the China money out of China.

In this post, I would just focus on transferring money out of China by individuals, foreigners or Chinese. There are other ways that can be utilized through corporate transactions, but not covered by this article.

I. Foreigners

The other day, a client from Europe consulted me about his contemplated divorce with his cheating Chinese wife. One of the his headaches is how he can take money out of China after selling the apartment registered in his name. He said he had known for long that a foreigner can only take USD 50,000 out of China, and it would take too long a time to move his millions of RMB to his home country.

What is the often mentioned USD 50,000 quota?

The USD 50,000 annual quota is the equivalent amount of foreign exchanges that a person (foreigner or Chinese) in China can convert into RMB fund, and that a Chinese citizen can purchase with RMB fund, within a calendar year, without the necessity of providing transaction/deal documents to support such conversion or purchase. In other words, the persons seeking to convert foreign exchanges into RMB fund or to purchase foreign exchanges may just produce their identity document to the bank without proving why they need to make such conversion or purchase.

Read the preceding paragraph again. For a foreigner, the USD 50,000 is the quota for them to convert into RMB fund, but not the quota for them to purchase foreign exchange with RMB money. For a Chinese citizen, it is a quota for both conversion and purchase.

So in the discussion of taking money out of China by foreigners, this USD 50,000 quota has nothing to do with it.

Here are some of the ways that foreigners can employ to move Chinese RMB denominated fund out of China:

(1) under the current accounts, any legitimate earning in RMB can be converted into foreign exchanges and remit the same out of China. Legitimate earnings include your salaries/wages, your rentals generated by your property in China, license royalties, and dividends received from your invested China company. But when you apply to a bank in China to do the conversion and remittance, you need to prove how the money is earned and the payment of relevant taxes.

(2) under capital accounts, a foreigner can legitimately transfer out of China the sale proceeds arising from sale of real estates in China. The property so sold can be that you bought in the past or that you inherit from a family member who can be either a foreigner or a Chinese citizen.

Also as a capital account, foreigners can also transfer share sale proceeds out of China after they sell their shareholdings in a China foreign-invested company or limited partnership enterprise. China foreign exchange administration has laid down detailed rules on such route in terms of converting and transferring money out of China. However, if a foreigner inherits shares in a China company, things can be very tricky and complicated, you may refer to another post on this blog about inheritance of corporate shares in a China company: inheritance-of-corporate-shares-of-a-china-company-iv

(3) Carrying Cash Across Border

This is allowed as well. In the case of foreign exchange, an amount of USD 5000 cash can be carried each time crossing the border (further rules apply to multiple round trips within a day or a short period); in the case of RMB cash, the maximum amount is RMB 20,000.

II. Chinese Citizens

We all heard of stories about Chinese people purchasing foreign real properties in USA, Canada, Australia and even in Europe. One cannot help wondering how those money is moved out of China in such large magnitude given that China has maintained very strict foreign exchange control over money flow across its borders.

As a lawyer engaged in cross-border estate planning legal services for a decade, I am trying to tell as many ways as I know.

(1) Utilizing USD 50,000 annual quota

As discussed above, every Chinese citizen has an annual USD 50,000 foreign exchange quota whereby he or she can directly purchase from a bank in China, and this amount of foreign exchange can be wired into a bank account in a foreign country.

This is probably most widely used legal and lawful method of transferring money out of China. You may also hear of news to the effect that China banking system has tightened control over this kind of “ants moving” activities. If the banking monitoring system spots suspicious ants moving activities of converting RMB into USD and remitting the money into one foreign bank account within a short period, the persons involved may be investigated and sanctioned.

(2) Overseas Investment

Actually, this is not a good idea of taking money out. Chinese citizens cannot invest in foreign countries in their individual capacity, but can only invest by incorporating a company in China first and use that corporate vehicle to invest. However, such official way of making overseas investments is heavily subject to governmental scrutiny on what business you are going to invest in the foreign country and how much money you can invest. To many Chinese people that want to purchase foreign stock or purchase foreign real estate properties, this route is not possible.

(3) Carrying Cash Across Border

Yes, this is fine as well. But there is a restriction on how much you can legally carry across China borders/customs. In the case of RMB cash, as mentioned above, the quota is RMB 20,000 and in the case of USD cash, the quota is USD 5000, in each case for both foreigners and Chinese citizens.

(4) Foreign Exchange Master or Visa Credit Cards

This is also a widely acknowledged way of taking money out of China. Chinese citizens travelling abroad can swipe their master or visa credit cards for purchasing luxury goods and then cancel the transaction by asking the vendors to return money in USD. This can incur some high rate costs, but it may be worth for some people.

However I just recently found out another way of using master or visa credit cards to transfer money out of China. It is an investment or wealth management products launched by a Cayman trust company that sells such products to Chinese customers. Chinese customers don’t have to travel abroad to swipe their credit cards but do it within China.

This is the amazing point of this product. The money will go into an account client opens with the trust company in joint names (parent-child structured accounts), and the money will be further directed to a Cayman insurance company (segregated portfolio company, SPC) which will issue an insurance policy to the customer and the money will be finally invested in S&P indexed stock or other funds chosen by the customers. Depending on the types of products (often with different investment terms), the products allow the customers to withdraw cash value of their accounts (keeping a certain amount of low value in the account) outside of China and put the withdrawn cash money in their offshore bank accounts opened with a foreign bank, and in certain circumstances, up to a percentage of 90+% investment amounts can be withdrew and used elsewhere as the customers wish.

This is not just a way to move money outside of China. It can be considered as a normal way of investing in foreign markets to diversify client’s portfolios in China, and it can also be used as a way for purpose of emigrating and child education in foreign countries and lastly it can be used for estate planning purposes for rich Chinese families.

This is so far the best way of moving money out of China without many risks and costs. If your Chinese friends and clients need such services, please contact the blogger.

(5) Money Swap at Both Onshore and Offshore Sides

This is again another widely used method of getting money out of China. For example, if I need a certain amount of USD for investing in USA, I can give the equivalent amount of RMB here in China to a person who needs RMB and that person will transfer the desired amount of USD to my bank account in HK, Singapore and USA.

This is what the underground banking people do to facilitate money outflow.

(6) Trading Route

This is something I hear a lot in the market and have finally come to know a couple friends that can really arrange such transactions for people. Generally, this is employed when people need to transfer a big amount of money outside of China. For small amounts, money swap mentioned above will make do.

The deal flows in much the same way of money swap where the client (Chinese people who need to transfer money outside China) pays a certain amount of RMB to a company in China that is engaged in huge international trading business (energies, minerals) and the company will later on transfer an equivalent USD to the bank account designated by the client in the foreign country. The cost is generally 2-3% of the total amount so moved.

Comments

  1. John says:

    Hello, we are looking for Chinese investors who want to invest outside of China. We are offering an offshore product that invests into the Canadian private mortgage market. The product is structured to be held offshore ( Grand Cayman & Belize ) so that return on investment can be tax sheltered and the investor can receive their dividends to be held in trust off shore for them or directly deposited to offshore accounts that they may already have set up. This allows the investor to grow their net worth and accumulate capital that they can use in the future for business ventures outside of China, such as buying property, starting businesses or paying for children’s future education costs and future financial support if a decision to emigrate is made. Our underlying product will also be going through a larger capital raise in the US under the US Reg D regulations then followed by a public offering. We are seeking to raise $10 Million USD from individual Chinese investors and we are seeking Chinese sources to help raise these funds on a commission basis. Commission rates of up to 15% will apply. This product is ideal for Chinese investors whoa re beginning their process of moving and investing capital outside of China. They can grow and protect their funds for future use and earn significant returns. We can accept crypto payment such as bitcoin or other stable crypto coins like USDT. All crypto would be converted to USD upon receipt and investment valued at that established exchange rate in order to help Chinese investors access capital to invest. Accepting Crypto allows investors to gather and accumulate Crypto through Peer to Peer networks and work around the foreign exchange limitations.

    [email protected]

  2. Maria Rosino-Miracco says:

    Hi Jason- I have a seller who is Chinese and lives in Shanghai. We are selling his property in the US. He has a mortgage loan that will need to be paid off as part of the sale, of course. The buyers, two sisters are both Chinese with one living in the US and the other a Chinese citizen. Both want to buy the home jointly. RB funds are with Bank of China and sister’s portion here in US Bank. It is my understanding that RBs can be wired here to an intermediary to Federally Chartered Bank and then the conversion takes place in the US. Is this true? Will this wire be red-flagged by the Chinese government?

    1. Jason Tian says:

      hi Maria, RB funds refer to RMB fund, right? No, the Chinese buyers cannot send RMB fund out of China. However, how much money are we talking about? I have a client who has USD 2 million in USA and wish to exchange that fund into RMB. In other words, the client wants to receive RMB in China and pay USD to anyone who pays the said RMB to him. If such exchange or money swap is of no problem in USA, then I may be happy to bridge the deal. If the practice raises red flag in USA (which is very likely as far as I understand), then there is mutually no legal way to move forward. What about having the Chinese buyers set up their Singapore or Hong Kong accounts first and then remit the swapped money to USA from there? We can help with all these activities.

      1. Maria Rosino-Miracco says:

        Hi Jason- Thank you for replying! We are probably talking about $1.1M that we need in order to make the deal happen. The other sister would be contributing $300K who lives in the States. I was under the impression that the sister in China would not be able to open a Hong Kong or Singapore account and fund it with RMB as that was prohibited in China as it would be subject to the same $50K limit? If opening a bank account is possible, then we should have no issue with the RMB then being wired here to the states and exchanged in US dollars here? Would they need an attorney to open up a bank account? I like the idea of getting US dollars from your client sitting on $2M….. I would be interested in knowing more on the mechanics of that how much time and cost is involved with that avenue so that I can let my clients know.

        1. Jason Tian says:

          due to the sensitivity of this issue, let us talk via emails. Thanks.

  3. George says:

    Dear Jason,
    Thanks for the article. I am a British citizen; my wife is Chinese with Shanghai hukou. We are looking at purchasing a property here in Shanghai.
    If we can purchase the property, I will take a mortgage in USD from a foreign bank for the better interest rate.
    What we are worried about now is, when we want to sell the property. I read on another website (https://www.sinojobs.com/en/career-job-application/laws-salary/pension/purchasing-properties-in-china-as-a-foreigner.html) that “If the seller’s mortgage is in foreign currency, the seller is not allowed to convert the buyer’s down payment into foreign currency so as to pay off his mortgage.” What does this mean? I’d really appreciate your advice on how to transfer the proceeds of sale out of China (to the UK). It looks like this means the person who eventually buys our apartment would pay the down payment, and we would NOT be able to convert that to USD. So in order to pay off our mortgage, we would need to buy USD ourselves to make up the gap?
    Also I’d like to know all the taxes that we need to prove have been paid. You can contact me at my email below. Thanks very much!

    1. Jason Tian says:

      that is correct. Indeed, that is what we have experienced in the past as well. The bottom line is that as a foreigner, you are not allowed to convert RMB into USD freely, nor are the Chinese citizens. That said, you will have to figure out a way to get enough USD from outside China to pay off the mortgage first before you can sell it. You may be lucky enough to find a buyer who has USD outside China to pay you that part of the money offshore, then bingo.

  4. Patrick says:

    HI there. Follow up question please? Can you give me more details on what I can carry across the border in several visits? You write: “(3) Carrying Cash Across Border

    This is allowed as well. In the case of foreign exchange, an amount of USD 5000 cash can be carried each time crossing the border (further rules apply to multiple round trips within a day or a short period); in the case of RMB cash, the maximum amount is RMB 20,000.”

    ** is it one or the other, or can you bring both $5,000 cash AND 20k yuan in one trip?
    ** In practice, what is the maximum daily in yuan I can take out of an ATM machine in China?
    ** Do I just go into any bank branch when I cross the border and ask for $5,000 cash? And hand them RMB cash?
    ** What are the rules for two or three round trips over two or three days? Say, two or three trips over three days… at the HK checkpoint and then the Maccau checkpoint?

  5. Pae K says:

    Hi Jason,

    Thank you for your valuable blog.

    My mother who has converted her nationality to Thai, inherited her Chinese father’s apartment some years ago. Since my granddad passed away, she wanted to sell it, but we are unsure how to take the proceedings to Thailand. What would you recommend for the less costly procedure?

    1. Jason Tian says:

      Hi Pae, sorry for late reply. Given the current situation of pandemic, the only possible way is to issue a power of attorney to a professional here in China to take care of the sale process and money repatriation. By the way, where is the property located in China?

      1. Pae says:

        Pudong, Shanghai.

      2. Pae says:

        Additional information: she is currently residing in Shanghai and been living there for over 10 years now. The property is also under her name.

        1. Jason Tian says:

          hi Pae, I will send you a separate email to your email account.

  6. Emily Wong says:

    I am Florida Real Estate Realtor. My website http://www.Emilywong.com
    我有些中國客戶想買房但有錢轉不出來的問題, 所以我上網查了一下, 無意間看到你的 Blog, 謝謝提供這麼有用的資訊.

    1. Jason Tian says:

      let me know if you need my help on this.

  7. Christel says:

    Hi Jason,

    Would like to ask about item #2 under Foreigner.

    The China property was already sold and the money is with my Uncle already in his China account denominated in RMB.
    We need to send the money out from Xiamen to Singapore. Can we present the original title of the property, the one when my uncle bought last 1995 as proof that there was a property of my uncle.
    The buyer who recently bought the property ( where the money came from) doesnt want to give the copy of purchase of sale.

    Hope you can help me with this

    1. Jason Tian says:

      Hi Christel, yes, we can help. So the property was bought by your uncle back in 1995, is he now Singaporean? If he remains Chinese, no way for you to do it easily. Your uncle should have a copy of the sale contract, but if he doesn’t, we can help this out later on.

      1. Christel says:

        Hi Jason,

        He is a Filipino Nationale.
        Can he just present the original title the time he bought the property in 1995? As proof that he owns the property before.
        Or still have to provide the current sale contract?

        1. Jason Tian says:

          If he has sold the property, he shouldn’t have kept the title deed, which should have been taken back by real estate authority. the sale contract is necessary for the process. We can help you to obtain a copy if your uncle doesn’t have it at hand.

        2. Jason Tian says:

          pls further communicate on this matter via my emails. Thanks.

  8. Sharlene says:

    Hi Jason,

    I’m from China and I hope to buy a property in Singapore. I’m currently in Singapore on dependant pass while my son studies here. Is there any way that I can bring more than USD$50,000 to Singapore from my account in China?

    1. Jason Tian says:

      how much are we talking about? Please send message to my email account.

    2. Francesco says:

      Hi Jason , I am italian. I bought an apartment in Shenzhen in 2004 . On the property deed there are my name and my Chinese wife name (1/2 each). We don’t want my wife to emigrate but still keep Chinese nationality and Chinese Hukou and residence. We are going to sell the apartment. Do you know if there is a way we can legally transfer abroad the full amount or only my part can be transferred ? Thank you Jason

      1. Jason Tian says:

        Hi Francesco, we can help you with this. Please send me an email to my email account. As you may have noticed that we offer property sale services in China all the time, from very beginning of listing the property with realtors all the way down to repatriating sale proceeds out of China.

    3. Patrick says:

      Hi Jason, my name is Pat. I have worked in the Philippines as a full time freelancer for the last couple of years for a Chinese company, after having been a staffer for them for a number of years in Beijing and now moved to this neck of the woods. I want to legitimately access or deploy my monthly salary, paid into my Chinese mainland bank account after having been taxed at source. (I have a work contract and Unionpay debit cards). Can you help with advice? I have run into the 100,000 rmb ATM withdrawal annual limit and now can only use the cards to pay for goods at stores accepting Unionpay.

      1. Jason Tian says:

        Hi Patrick, I have replied your email already. Let me know if you have not received.

  9. Jason says:

    Hi Jason,

    Thanks for this interesting article.

    Does the legal transfer of sale proceeds out of China also include real estate that was gifted (i.e. the original owner still lives in China)?

    After buying real estate is there a minimum holding period before sale proceeds can be transferred?

    Thanks!

    Marc

    1. Jason Tian says:

      if you acquire the property in China as a foreign citizen, meaning you use foreign passport when registering the real estate, then you can sell it and take the money out at any time you wish. No time limit on when you can repatriate the money.

  10. Stephen says:

    Hi Jason:
    Very Interesting and informative article…
    Thank you.
    I have a condo in Shenzhen which I inherited, and did not pay any money towards its ownership. I am contemplating selling it for which I expect to receiving 3- 5M RMB. As a US citizen, is there any way I can transfer the proceeds of the sale after fees to a US bank account ? I was informed by a friend in the US, that if RE is inherited in China that there is a one time only provision which allows the seller to transfer the funds from a China bank while converting the RMB to USD to a US bank account without government taxes on both ends. Is this a myth or is this possible ? Please provide any response or info to my email address provided. Thank you so much for your assistance.
    Best regards.
    SC

    1. Jason Tian says:

      we can help you with selling the property and get the money back to USA.

      1. Lei says:

        Hi Jason,

        Thank you for explaining this in details. I’m in a similar situation as Stephen here, and would appreciate some advice. Could you send me an email, attached below, and let me know if you’d be able to provide any assistance?

        All the best

        1. Jason Tian says:

          ok, will send you an email soon. Actually you can find my email on my blog.

  11. David says:

    Hello! Thanks for the informative blog.

    My dad who is now living overseas, has a UnionPay card. Can he purchase the wealth management product you mentioned? If not I am looking for any other recommendation you have to help my dad move money out of China.

    Happy to receive an email from you so we can discuss in more detail.
    Thanks.

    1. Jason Tian says:

      David, let us chat via emails.

  12. Daniel Vesely says:

    Dear Jason,
    when I talk to RE agents abroad (e.g. in Singapore or Thailand), I often get to hear that their Chinese buyers paid for the condominium all in cash. At the same time, most of these buyers keep their newly purchased units empty – they focus exclusively on capital preservation / appreciation and don’t want to bother about renting their units out to tenants.
    Question: Why don’t they leverage their equity and take out a mortgage locally? Assuming RE prices in these regions continue to rise (which is their investment thesis), they could easily double or triple their ROI.

    Thanks!

    1. Jason Tian says:

      Daniel, good question. But so far as I know, there are many buyers who are taking out mortgage loans to purchase properties in Australia. i am not sure whether it is always available to apply for mortgage loans in southeast asia countries. The reason for keeping the property empty may be that those buyers are not looking for rental income and they would prefer to leave them empty instead of bothering to managing the lease issues which can get out of control if anyting goes wrong. But if there is a good property management services available, i guess some buyers may think of renting their properties out.

  13. Alison says:

    Hi Jason, Great article! Are there limits on other types of currencies that can be moved out of China? For example, can a Chinese citizen move 3 million Thai bhat out of China to a Thai bank account?

    1. Jason Tian says:

      i don’t think Chinese people will have that much Thai bhat in their bank accounts. Most people have hard currencies such as USA, Euro or Yen. however that said, so long as you can prove the legitimate source of income, you should be ok to take it out of China legally.

  14. Andrew says:

    Hi Jason,
    Thanks for the thorough read, how is it possible that Cayman insurance products can be signed and sold within China? Is there a limitation to how much one can buy or a limitation on liquidity?

    Thanks

    1. Jason Tian says:

      Andrew, the products are bought using Visa or Master Credit cards issued by banks in China. Just like you buy goods on Amazon where you just insert your credit card information and their system will deduct the amount you pay for the products. It doesn’t seem to be any limit on this so long as the buyers have enough credit lines.

  15. Grace says:

    Hi Jason,

    My parents finally decided to live with us in US. They are Chinese citizens now and they want to move their assets out of China. We are interested in your article about moving large amount of money. Could you please reply to my email? Thanks.

    1. Jason Tian says:

      hi Grace, sent you an email just now.

  16. Jud says:

    I have several escrows being cancelled by Chinese buyers that cannot get their money out of China, price point $750,000 to $1.1M …the 20% Down Payment needed, are their banks in China that will do mortgage loans for their Chinese citizens to buy in the United States? Trying to save these real estate deals.

    1. Jason Tian says:

      no easy way unless you resort to underground banking to do money swap: someone receive RMB from the buyers in China and in the same time pay USD do the clients outside of China. If time permits, they can consider the credit card method mentioned in my article. Clients can be allowed to take out up to 90% of the money topped up into their account into a foreign bank account outside of China.

  17. Ravi says:

    Hi Jason

    Thanks for a very clear article on repatriation from China by foreigners. So if an Australian citizen working (as a foreigner) in Shanghai has annual savings (net salary after all income taxes and expenses) of over US $50,000, can that be repatriated back to Australia without any issues ?
    Briefly, what documentation has to be provided for a salaried employee to the bank while making the repatriation into AUD.

    Regards
    Ravi

    1. Jason Tian says:

      for salary money, it can be converted into foreign currency and paid out of China. This has been in place for many years. Pls talk to your bank. I believe so long as you can prove this is income from your employment in China and you have paid the due income tax, then you shouldn’t have any problem.

  18. Carlos Smith says:

    I have an account in China and has been transferring money out of the country in the last few years. The bank placed a freeze on my account and said I cannot transfer out USD. Do you know how long will it take for the freeze to be lifted?

    1. Jason Tian says:

      no, i have no idea if we don’t even know why the account is frozen. I guess it is not freezing, but just they don’t allow you to buy USD and transfer the same out of China. Money transfer has been tightened a lot in recent years.

  19. Jan Størmer says:

    Hi Jason
    Thanks for the interesting article.
    I am a Norwegian citicen who recently sold an apartment that I bought in Beijing in 2006. I want to transfer the sales sum from my bank in China (CCB) to my bank in Norway (DNB) I have understood that it must be submitted thorough documentation of purchases and sales processes – and tax matters before the transaction can be done.

    Which Chinese banks, in your opinion, have the best experience in conducting such a transaction. Do you think I need to have a lawyer to provide sufficient documentation?
    Jan

    1. Jason Tian says:

      Hi Jan, actually we have just closed a sale of apartment for another Norwegian client and we are about to help with remit the money out of China to Oslo. Now please let me know when you completed the sale and how much money is now in RMB, and do you have time to attend to the matter yourself? We are happy to help you with this at a reasonable fee.

      1. Jan Størmer says:

        Hi again Jason

        Thanks for your quick reply.
        The sale was completed in October 2018. The amount to be transferred is approximately RMB 2.5 Mill. How much will you take for the job?
        Jan

        1. Jason Tian says:

          talk to you in Email.

  20. Lest says:

    Hi Jason,

    As a foreigner is there a similar rule to the above for moving money into China? We want to transfer money into China to buy a property for my mother in law, so will obviously be above the USD 50K limit. Can we transfer in more than that in USD and then buy CNY in China in a reverse of the above?

    1. Jason Tian says:

      no. The only way you can do is to transfer the USD to different relatives of your mother-in-law up to USD 50000 each, and then get them to convert the USD into RMB/CNY. But when you do it, do it at slow pace.

      1. Lest says:

        Thanks Jason for the reply.

  21. Roger says:

    Hi Jason,

    Thank you for this really useful article. Which are the best banks in China to remit money out of China to Singapore? What are the implications if I were to remit money within USD 50,000 each from 2 or 3 different person’s accounts in China to the same account in Singapore?

    1. Jason Tian says:

      well, most domestic banks are acting very carefully with regard to moving money out of China. Unless you can produce good documents, they generally don’t let you pay money out of China. The way you mentioned of using annual quota may still work if you do it carefully without getting too many people to do the same in a short period. Again, the problem is which bank is involved in your arrangement.

      1. Roger says:

        Thanks Jason. In this aspect, which banks would you recommend that would make the remittance process easier?

        1. Jason Tian says:

          those foreign banks in China may be more flexible. However very often it takes some personal connection to get the banking easier. I personally have established a good relationship with one of them. Sorry, that is not something meant to be public. 🙂

  22. David says:

    Hello Jason,
    I am a Singaporean and going to work in China. About “any legitimate earning in RMB can be converted into foreign exchanges and remit the same out of China”, what proof will the bank require? Can automatic remit be setup at the bank or one has to go to the back do it in person every time and go through the same procedure? Last, any recommendation on the bank which is easier than others in terms of the process? Thanks!

    1. Jason Tian says:

      You need to submit tax invoices (obtained from tax authority) to prove you have paid taxes on the income you receive from your employer. I don’t think it can be set up to work automatically.

  23. gayani says:

    Hi Jason,
    One of my clients who is a Chinese national who wants to buy a property in Sri Lanka and we don’t have any such restrictions in Sri Lanka when receiving foreign currencies. So under the USD 50,000 annual quota, how can my client transfer money from her Chinese account to her bank account in Sri Lanka for investment purpose?

    1. Jason Tian says:

      Depending on what bank he or she uses, she may be able to get the money out without problem. Try some foreign banks in China. Most domestic banks are strict with paying money out. Good luck. If it cannot be done, then get your friend to contact me for help.

      1. gayani says:

        Thanks a lot! will ask her to contact you if she encounters any problem.

  24. John says:

    Hello Jason,

    I’m pleased to see this article, which dispels the myth that one can’t legitimately take what’s legally earned & tax paid out of China. So many rumours and disinformation abound.

    However, it’s never clear; and ever-changing in China.

    My question is: A foreigner and local married for over 3 years recently sold their property. It was in the wife’s name, as she was told he couldn’t have his name on the deed as he didn’t have a green card. (Officially, a “family visit/marriage” visa.)

    Can he send this money out of China as it’s legitimately “theirs”, or does being married to a local woman complicate matters? They plan to leave China but want to buy their new house in his home country ready for the visa approval for his wife.

    1. Jason Tian says:

      hi John, where depending on places, some may not allow foreign spouse’s name to be added onto title deed of property, and if the foreign spouse’s name is not on the deed, then even though he is entitled to half of the property, the foreign exchange authority won’t allow him to bring half of the property sale proceeds. If his wife has a good credit line, then we may help them to wire the money out by other ways.

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