Wiring money to China
 

A few questions for anyone who may have experience:

1. I heard there is an annual max of $50,000 USD that each person can exchange in China. I believe this applies to wires in USD currency. However, I believe some US banks can wire in RMB; does anyone know if that bypasses the $50k limit?

2. If I wire the money (USD or RMB) to a relative's Chinese account (Chinese citizen), does anyone know what kind of scrutinization they would encounter to withdraw it?

Thanks.

That limit is for money leaving China - you can send any amount in any currency into the country.

There is a limit for converting foreign currency into CNY as well and it's USD50,000 per person per year. There is no limit if you use a USD debit card and withdraw CNY cash (or use a USD credit card and transact in CNY).

It is practically impossible to wire CNY into China as an individual. What may be possible is to obtain a dual currency credit card that can settle in CNY and then pay it off with off-shore CNY (CNH). However, the availability of dual-currency credit cards may be limited outside of Hong Kong.

Then how did I wire large amounts of foreign currency into China to buy 2 condos?

The claim was that you can't wire CNY into China i.e. convert your currency to yuan outside China and then do the transfer in CNY

If you can supply proof such as a contract of purchase then you can exceed the annual limit of USD50,000. Without such documentary proof you cannot exceed the limit.