Money, Currency and Cards in China
Local Currency
Yuan Renminbi (CNY)
General Advice
Cash is the way to travel in China – change sufficient money as you go and you’ll have few problems. ATM’s accept credit cards (large cities only). Travellers’ cheques can also be changed at banks, but it’s time consuming and costly.
Money Exchange
Foreign currency and travellers’ cheque exchange is generally available in most of China's cities, with banks, hotels, airports and even outlets in shopping malls able to change money.
All the state banks of China such as Bank of China offer a money exchange service, though provincial branches may not change all foreign currencies.
To exchange money your passport is required and the exchange receipt must be retained to show when the RMB is changed back to your original currency before leaving China.
ATM’s are found in major cities and accept credit cards.
Currency Regulations
Each individual is permitted to bring any quantity of traveller's cheques and credit cards, but only USD5,000 cash (or equivalent value in other currencies). Any excess sum should be declared.
ATM Availability
ATMs are widely available in all larger cities and accept credit cards. You should not plan to travel to smaller destinations and rely on ATMs. Normal charges apply at home. Banks have differing limits on the sum that can be withdrawn each day, with most permitting a withdrawal of 20,000 yuan in any one 24 hour period. For more information check the Visa ATM locator, the MasterCard ATM locator or the American Express ATM locator for the addresses of ATMs around the world.
Credit Cards
Increasingly accepted there are now several major foreign credit cards accepted in China - Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Diners Club, JCB, Federal and Million. These can be used for cash withdrawals, shopping and other transactions in most major Chinese cities, but again are generally unacceptable in provincial or off the beaten track areas.
You can also check the Visa, MasterCard or American Express locator pages.
Travellers Cheques
Traveller's cheques from American Express, Visa, Thomas Cook can be changed at numerous locations, but the procedure is time consuming and somewhat laborious.
Other Information
Chinese yuan (CNY) – CNY1 = 10 jiao; 10 jiao = 10 fen. The sign for the yuan is “¥”.
Banknotes are issued in denominations of ¥1, ¥5, ¥10, ¥20, ¥50 and ¥100. 1 and 5 jiao and 1 yuan are still found but are rarely used nowadays.
Note that colloquially in Chinese, the yuan is called kuai, and the jiao is called mao. The currency in general is referred to as renminbi.
In Hong Kong and Macau the currency is different. Hong Kong has the Hong Kong dollar whilst the pataca is in use in Macau. Neither are linked to the yuan.
