Banking and payments in China: an account on your passport, and the 50,000-dollar annual quota

Yes, as a foreigner you can simply open a bank account in China, and in principle you only need your passport for it. The bank may ask for more documents if it cannot properly establish your identity. The pitfall comes afterwards: exchanging foreign currency into yuan is subject to an annual quota of USD 50,000, and above that the bank asks for supporting documents. Whoever wants to convert their Dutch savings in one go runs into it.

What do you need for an account?

When opening an account a bank must check your identity, whether your document is valid and belongs to you, and whether you really want the account yourself. For foreigners the valid identity document is the passport (or, for those who have one, the permanent residence card).

What	Explanation
Passport	the identity document on which the account is opened
Additional documents, if the bank asks	for example another identity document with photo, a driving licence, proof of tax paid, or a water, electricity or gas bill
Your own will	the bank must establish that you want to open the account

China has five big state-owned banks: Bank of China, ICBC, Agricultural Bank of China, China Construction Bank and Bank of Communications. Renting out, lending, buying or selling an account is prohibited.

How does exchanging work, and what is the annual quota?

What	Rule
Exchanging foreign currency into yuan	up to USD 50,000 a year with your valid identity document
Above the quota	with your identity document and supporting documents at the bank
Holders of a permanent residence card	an annual quota of USD 50,000 for both buying and selling
Where	at banks; not with unauthorised persons or companies

Plan large amounts in advance. The quota is per person per year. If you want to exchange a large amount from the Netherlands into yuan in one go, ask your bank in advance which supporting documents it wants to see, and spread it if necessary. Ask at the same time which documents the bank wants when you later transfer yuan back to the Netherlands. Bringing cash is no way round it: on entry you declare everything from ¥ 20,000 in yuan or USD 5,000 in foreign currency.

If you bring more than USD 5,000 in foreign currency in cash and want to take that money out of the country again later, you fill in two declaration forms on entry. Customs stamps them and hands one back; you show it again when you leave. Whoever has nothing to declare takes the green channel; whoever is in doubt takes the red one.

Can you pay with your Dutch card?

Partly. According to the Chinese government's payment guide of 2024, you can link a foreign credit card, such as Visa or Mastercard, in Alipay and WeChat Pay. Limits apply, and they were raised in 2024: per transaction from USD 1,000 to 5,000, per year from USD 10,000 to 50,000.

Mobile payment with a foreign card	Limit
Per transaction	USD 5,000 (was 1,000)
Per year, cumulative	USD 50,000 (was 10,000)
Small amounts	without identity details

Bank and credit cards with the card organisation's logo are accepted where that logo hangs at the till; UnionPay cards work at all payment terminals. Since April 2024, moreover, all hotels of three stars or more and the tourist attractions rated 4A and 5A must accept domestic and foreign bank cards, and major attractions keep a staffed ticket booth open. Alipay can now be used in sixteen languages. You can withdraw cash at ATMs with your card's logo, and exchange at bank branches with an exchange sign, at qualified financial institutions and at exchange machines. Cash has not disappeared: the government is working to get cash more widely accepted in transport, shops, restaurants and entertainment. Handy for the first days, and for visitors from the Netherlands who do not have Chinese apps. For your day-to-day money in yuan you open a Chinese account, which you then link to the same apps. What digital life looks like beyond that is in internet, WeChat and paying in China.

Where do you read on?

How the registrations work that you need at the bank and elsewhere is in residence permit and registration in China; the order of the first weeks in your first weeks in China. Keep your Dutch account, see keeping a bank account and DigiD.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 5 of 5 of the journey, step 5.4: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to China or go straight to step 5.4 in the open plan.