Hey Brendan

Oz-Pay Money Transfers looks like a good system but it would not be helpful to the majority of expats living and working in mainland China.

China is a very large country; larger than Australia. Hong Kong is at the southern tip of China; kind of like Tasmania.

Beijing and Shanghai, for example, are (I think) about 2,000 kilometres from Hong Kong.

To send money out of Hong Kong the money would firstly have to be changed from Chinese mainland money (RMB) to Hong Kong Dollars. And, a Hong Kong bank account would be needed.

But a great system for expats in Hong Kong, and those living in the (relatively) nearby province of Guangdong.

Thank you for your answers. My school managed to get some USD to send through Western Union. The fee was pretty low but the money can't be deposited into an account(+I don' t want to bother friends on a regualr basis)and you can't open a bank account with W.U in China.

It seems there are many ways to get around the problem, but some of them are quite risky, ie some people just mail cash to friends/family, or buy $ on the black market = could be fake, or you can go to Hong Kong if you live in the area, but I've read the limit is 5.000rmb, unless you' re Canadian?

Bank of China can transfer to an overseas account(200 rmb fee for exchanging + sending AUS$ 500) but like other banks, they need pay slip, tax payment receipt,passport, foreign expert certif + contract. I went to Quzhou city yesterday but they wanted to keep the original of the tax receipt which I may need to exit China (could mean trouble at the airport if asked to produce it), so I didn' t proceed with the transaction. They can' t just exchange rmb, but the lady said it would be easy to find a Chinese citizen or a travel agent tobuy US$ from. Anyway, I'll wire some money next week through my new employer who has a family member in Honk Kong.

An other way is to open a US$ cash account from which you can then easily do an internet tranfer, but back to square one, where to buy US$? It also seems to be a good idea to have a clause in the contract that allows you to remit (up to 70%) of your salary to avoid problems at the bank. Then again, someone managed to send 150% of his salary to Europe through Bank of China, and others seem to be able to exchange money in booths outside banks just with their passport- only in big cities.

Some foreign owned schools offer to deposit the salary into an overseas bank account, but the feedback I' ve got from esl sites is not so good. Have the school pay in $? or help exchange rmb? but I guess there are no guarantees.

Will keep you posted if I hear of anything else

All the best

christine

Hi again,

Yes, you can transfer money through Western Union, but have to pay in $US (none here)and can' t open an account with them.

It's possible to open an account with Bank of China from which to transfer 5000rmb+ after all, someone does it regularly. Will ask a teacher to check again with the local banks, and will let you know if I hear of anything else.

Cheers

Christine

I am closing my bank account in Thailand and am transfering money to Korea. What's the best way to do this without lugging around 8K USD in Korea or wiring it back to the states? AE Traveler's checks?

Thanks

I thought that RMB was a 'closed' currency (not the correct term probably). I don't think you are allowed to take it out of the country.

Mind you, I also vaguely remember some country/ies (maybe it was Hong kong, which doesn't really count of course) being given the green light to exchange RMB, so maybe this has changed.