Here you’ll find answers to the most common questions about Chinese yuan (CNY) transfers.
You can’t currently send money from CNY.
Sending to CNY
Who can I send CNY to?
You can send CNY to private individuals who have a UnionPay bank card or an Alipay ID. They must have opened their bank account with a Chinese national ID card — we can’t send CNY to accounts opened with a passport, driver’s licence or military document.
What information do I need about my recipient?
For UnionPay recipients you’ll need their full name, in PinYin (A–Z) only, and their 16–19 digit UnionPay card number.
For Alipay recipients you’ll need their full name, in PinYin (A–Z) only, and their Alipay ID.
How much can I send?
You can send up to 31,000 CNY per transaction.
You can send up to 10,000 USD per recipient, or equivalent in CNY, per day.*
You can send up to 50,000 USD per recipient, or equivalent in CNY, per year.*
*This limit is how much your recipient can receive in total, from all exchange platforms — it is not only limited to Wise.
How long does it usually take for the money to arrive?
For UnionPay recipients, once Wise receives and converts your money, it usually arrives in your recipient’s bank account on the same working day. Conversion can take up to 2 working days. If your recipient has reached the daily receiving limit, the money will arrive on the next day.
For Alipay recipients that have linked their bank card to their Alipay ID, once Wise receives and converts your money, it usually arrives in your recipient’s bank account in a few minutes. Conversion can take up to 2 working days.
Your Alipay recipient will be given 48 hours to link a bank card in order to receive your money for the first time, please remind them to look out for the notification from Alipay and complete the required setup.
We’ll always give you an estimate for how long your transfer will take when you set it up.
Learn more about how long transfers take
Are there any restrictions on sending to CNY?
You can only send to CNY from the following currencies: USD, GBP, HKD, SGD, EUR, AUD, CAD, JPY, BGN, CZK, DKK, HUF, NOK, PLN, RON, SEK, HRK, AED, BRL, CHF, IDR, MYR, NZD, TRY.
You can’t send CNY to businesses. But you can send USD to businesses in China.
Some banks in China don’t accept payments from abroad, so you can’t send money to the following banks:
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China Merchants bank
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China Minsheng bank
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Industrial Bank Co
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Shanghai Pudong Development Bank
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Bank of Nanjing
Is there any other information I need to know?
Not all countries can send money to China. But if you have an account in the following countries, you can send money to a UnionPay account:
United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden.
Alternatively, all but the following countries can send money to an Alipay account:
Cuba, Iran, Sudan, DPRK, Syria, Crimea region, China.