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Convertibility is huge. Earlier this year, my wife and I were in China helping her mom close an old bank account to move the money to Hong Kong (she's been an
by tvanantwerp 10y ago
Convertibility is huge.
Earlier this year, my wife and I were in China helping her mom close an old bank account to move the money to Hong Kong (she's been an HK permanent resident for over a decade). It was almost $10k USD worth. The easiest option was to get it all in cash and take it back to Hong Kong. The largest RMB note is the ¥100, which is about $15 USD. Our pockets were stuffed with hundreds of notes. It felt very awkward. Even though it was legitimately our money, I was afraid at any moment I'd be pulled aside and charged with some kind of crime.
So yeah, I don't see RMB as very practical when the largest note available is equivalent to $15. Pretty much necessitates that every moderately large transaction will go through a bank, under the watchful eye of the Chinese government. I can't see many foreigners being interested in that kind of arrangement.
- marme 10y agothis is actually illegal in china. If you take more than a certain amount of currency out of the country including to HK you need to declare it and fill out a form. Many people get around this rule by walking across the HK border 10 or 15 time in one day carrying the exact max amount of currency. You can also hire parallel traders to do it for you as they are usually crossing back into HK empty handed because most of the time their are carrying goods from HK into the mainland and just returning to get more stuff
- seanmcdirmid 10y agoHK is a part of China, except when it isn't. The Chinese border police don't look into money laundering or structuring that much. Much easier to go after the iPhones and milk powder.
- tvanantwerp 10y agoWe're pretty sure that between us, nobody was over the limit. Still felt sketchy as hell.