Does PayPal work in China?

Does PayPal work in China? Can you transfer money into and out of China using PayPal? ? Let's find out the answers to these questions below, and also explore the methods of using PayPal in China with detailed step-by-step guides.

Due to PayPal's limited operation in China, for expats in China, we highly recommend Wise. It serves over 16 million users, and earlier this year Wise finally made it possible for expats to send money out of China using Wise. Open a Wise multi-currency account, you can convert, hold money, shop with ease, and manage your money in a cheap and convenient way.

Please seeTerms of Use for your region or visitWise Fees & Pricing for the most up to date pricing and fee information.

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Does PayPal work in China?

Yes. PayPal can definitely work in China. The service of PayPal is now available in 200 countries and regions, including Hong Kong China, Taiwan China, and Mainland China¹. Both Chinese citizens and non-Chinese citizens (such as foreigners living or traveling in China) alike can sign up for a PayPal individual account and use it to make purchases from overseas, and receive & send payments throughout the world².

Differences between PayPal China and PayPal US

Despite the fact that PayPal is accessible in China, the service is actually rather limited and quite different from that of PayPal US.

In short:

1. People in China can only use PayPal China to shop on international sites and send international payments out of China.
2. PayPal US can help manage your money in a comprehensive way, including PayPal debit card and credit products, setting up direct deposit, buying and selling cryptocurrencies etc.

In detail:

For individual accounts, the key difference between PayPal China and PayPal US is that PayPal US allows users in the US to send and receive money anywhere, however in China, users can only send money to other countries³.

This also leads to other differences in service and ways of using PayPal for Chinese users and US users. While PayPal is focusing on facilitating its Chinese users to shop overseas and pay more easily, it offers a wider range of services to its US users, including PayPal debit card and credit products, setting up direct deposit, buying and selling cryptocurrencies, adding cash to PayPal balance account, paying bills, etc⁴.

Is PayPal commonly used in China?

In China, local payment methods like Alipay and WeChat Pay are more popular than PayPal. This is due to the fact that, despite being accessible in China, PayPal can only be used for some international transactions and overseas shopping. Most Chinese people generally rely on Alipay and WeChat Pay for shopping, daily life and to pay bills.

According to Statista, PayPal usage for online payments or at POS in China declined even further in 2023 than it did in 2021⁵.

Can PayPal send money to China?

As we mentioned earlier, PayPal China individual accounts are unable to receive payment. But suppose you have a business, you can open a PayPal business account and get paid via PayPal. With various payment solutions, PayPal business accounts can receive payments from global credit cards, debit cards, bank accounts and PayPal payments of more than 200 countries and areas³.

• If you have an independent website for your business, you can integrate PayPal Checkout to your website⁶.
• If you don’t own a website for your business, you can request a payment from your customers by email. The payments can be made via a PayPal account, a bank account, a credit account, or a debit card⁷.

Can PayPal send money out of China?

Yes, you can send international payments out of China with PayPal, as long as you have a PayPal account. The money will be quickly transferred to the recipient's account with just their email address, PayPal ID, or mobile number needed. Simply follow the 3 steps below to complete the transaction⁸.

1. Provide the recipient’s email address, PayPal ID or mobile number, along with the amount and currency to transfer.
2. Select your favorite payment method and send your money securely.
3. It is easy to track your spending. Each time you complete a transaction, you'll receive a notification.

Please note that the recipients, instead of the senders, are normally requested to cover the transaction fee if sending money with PayPal. There will also be a small conversion fee that is charged if you send money abroad in a different currency⁸.

Learn about how much fee PayPal charges for sending money out from China⁹

If you have a PayPal China account, when you send money in CNY and to other currencies, PayPal will add their own rate on top of the currency exchange rate. This ultimately means you are losing more money.

So be aware that here are the fee rates that Paypal charges you, when you sending money from China to other currency regions:

1. CNY sending to USD: 3.5%
2. CNY sending to EUR: 4%
3. CNY sending to GBP: 4%
4. CNY sending to SGD: 4%

All their rates are “above the base exchange rate (to form the transaction exchange rate)”, you can check their full list of currecies conversion fees here.

Wise can transfer your earnings out of China in a cheap way

Similar to PayPal, Wise works in China too and offers a transparent and easier way for expats to send money in and out of China. With a Wise personal account, you can send money to a Chinese UnionPay bank account, Alipay and WeChat. Now you can also use Wise to transfer your Chinese Yuan (CNY) earnings out of China to 160+ countries worldwide. Additionally, Wise supports users to hold and convert to over 40 currencies, from USD to EURO and POUNDS.

With Wise you always exchange currencies using the mid-market exchange rate. For decades, banks and financial institutions have gotten away with advertising zero fees whilst hiding them in inflated exchange rates. £187 billion was lost because banks were hiding fees. ¹⁰ This is one of the missions that Wise has taken on, to help our users save money on international transfers.

Compare our price with other banks or providers like PayPal, and make a Wise choice!

How to send money out of China using Wise:

1. DownloadWise App from the Apple store or Google Play, or sign up on the Wise official website.
2. Navigate to “Send money”, and enter the amount you wish to send
3. Choose the recipient, then you can send your legal earnings out of China immediately.