Friends World Program of Long Island University

Finances

Banking

Currency

The currency in China is called the People's Currency, or renminbi (人民币) in Chinese, and the official basic unit of currency is the yuan (元), which is colloquially called kuai (块) in mainland China, and is divided into jiao (角), which is also colloquially called mao (毛), and fen (分). Ten fen make one jiao and ten jiao make one yuan. Denominations of paper currency in yuan range from one, two, five, ten, twenty, fifty and hundred yuan notes. Denominations of paper currency in jiao range from one, two and five jiao notes, and there is also an unpopular one fen note that is typically only given for exact change by banks conducting foreign currency exchange. Denominations of coinage in fen range from one, two, and five fen coins, and there are one, and five jiao coins, and one yuan coins.

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Three Pools Mirroring the Moon at West Lake in Hangzhou featured on the reverse side of the one yuan note

Symbolism
While the fourth series of Chinese currency issued in 1980, which are still in circulation, feature a total of fourteen ethnic minorities on the paper notes ranging from the one jiao to ten yuan note, the fifth series issued in 1999 has replaced the faces of minorities on the one, five and ten yuan notes and the faces of the industrial worker, farmer and intellectual pictured on the fifty yuan note with the countenance of Chairman Mao Zedong, so that now all currently issued paper currency, including the one, five, ten, twenty, fifty and the hundred yuan note, pictures the same visage of China's Great Helmsman on its obverse side. On the upper right corner of the reverse of each bill is written the People's Bank of China in Chinese Pinyin (Zhongguo renmin yinghang) and in four ethnic minority scripts, which from left to right are written in Mongolian, Tibetan, Uygur and Zhuang scripts. The primary image on the reverse side of the new one yuan note is the Three Pools Mirroring the Moon at West Lake in Hangzhou, with the Su Causeway and Baochu Pagoda pictured in the background (see image above). The primary image on the reverse side of the new five yuan note is the sunrise from the "sea of clouds" below Mt. Tai in Shandong province (see image below). The stone inscription in the foreground is from the summit and reads "The most esteemed of the five sacred mountains" (wuyue duzun). The primary image on the reverse side of the new ten yuan note is a view of the famous Three Gorges of the Yangzi River. The primary image on the reverse side of the new twenty yuan note is a view of a cormorant fisherman adrift a bamboo boat floating down the Lijiang River through the spectacular karst mountains of Guilin in Guangxi province. The primary image on the reverse side of the new fifty yuan note is a view of the Potola Palace of Lhasa and former seat of the Dalai Lamas in what is now the Tibetan Autonomous Region. The primary image on the reverse side of the new hundred yuan note is a view of the People's Congress Hall on the east side of Tian'anmen Square in Beijing, constructed in 1959.

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Mount Tai featured on the reverse side of the five yuan note

Practical Matters

The domestic abbreviation for the Chinese currency renminbi is RMB and the currency symbol for its basic unit is ¥ (the capital letter 'Y' with two horizontal crossbars below the joint distinguishes it from the symbol for the Japanese yen, which has only one horizontal crossbar). The official international ISO currency code for Chinese currency is, however, the abbreviation CNY, and is used in this document accordingly. On July 21, 2005, China announced that the People's Bank of China would revaluate its currency, which had been pegged to the dollar for more than a decade. The current exchange rate is CNY 8.11 to USD 1.00, an appreciation of about 2%. The purchasing rate at the Bank of China for Chinese currency is USD 1.00 for CNY 8.0289, but this rate may fluctuate daily. A universal currency converter based on live mid-market rates can be found online here.

Foreign currency and travelers checks can be changed at the main and branch offices of the Bank of China. Every student is required to open a Bank of China USD/CNY savings account during the orientation week, which will cost the student CNY 10. Student room/board stipends will be transferred into these accounts monthly. Please see section VI below for more information regarding room/board stipends.

Students will be provided with an ATM card that can be used within and without the province to withdraw CNY funds from any Bank of China ATM machine. There is no transaction fee associated with Bank of China ATM cards within Zhejiang province, but outside Zhejiang province there is a CNY 5 fee per transaction. There is also a CNY 1,500 maximum per ATM transaction in Zhejiang province, although this amount may be as high as CNY 2,500 at some Bank of China branches in large cities outside the province, such as Shanghai. There is a CNY 5,000 daily maximum for total ATM transactions from a domestic account. There is a Bank of China ATM machine on Zhejiang University campus at the China Center mailbox room, near the east gate at the corner of Yugu Road and Qiushi Road. There is also a Bank of China branch office on Yugu Road:

Bank of China, Zhejiang University Branch
Address: 148 Yugu Road
Phone: +86-571-87967385
Address in Chinese: 中国银行浙大分理处,玉古路148号

Students may also use most international ATM cards, such as those provided by Bank of America, to access international savings accounts from a Chinese ATM machine. Most Chinese ATM machinese only accept foreign bank credit cards (an ATM card with a credit card logo such as Visa) and do not accept bank debit cards. Bank of China ATM accepts Cirrus, Plus, Amex, Visa, Visa Interlink, and MasterCard, and China China Merchants Bank accepts Cirrus, Maestro, Mastercard, Visa, Visa Electron, Plus, JCB, American Express and Diners Club International, although the international network connection between Chinese and overseas banks can be occasionally unreliable. The above mentioned international ATM cards are accepted at all Bank of China ATM machines, which are the most reliable and always have an English/Chinese welcome screen and menus. When using the Bank of China menus always make selections using the buttons on the left side of the screen or else all further menus will be in Chinese only. Many other Chinese banks also accept international transactions, such as China Construction Bank, China Merchants Bank, Guangdong Development Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), and Hangzhou City Bank. Bank of America International Plus locations in China include Hong Kong Bank and Guangdong Development Bank. Not all Chinese banks with ATM machines, however, accept international ATM cards, so if you do not see on of the above mentioned credit card logos on the welcome screen of an ATM machine at a bank not mentioned above, it most likely does not accept international cards, as is the case with many of the Agricultural Bank of China branches. In some cases, the ATM machine may take and not return your card, as is the case with Everbright Bank of China (EBC) ATM machines. If this happens contact the bank staff inside immediately if during business hours or as soon as the branch opens on the next business day.

In order to use an international ATM card at a Chinese bank you will need to know your ATM card password. Most Chinese ATM machines, however, require a password of six-digits or less, so we recommend that you change your password to four digits at your local bank before departing for China. Also, most Chinese ATM number pads do not have letters associated with the numbers, so you should memorize or record the actual numeric password and not the mnemonic letters. Most U.S. banks and credit card companies will flag suspicious transactions, including transactions from foreign countries, and may take steps to block further transactions without your notification to protect your interests and theirs. Therefore, we recommend that you notify your financial institutions prior to departure that you will be traveling abroad in China and request that transactions on your ATM and credit cards not be blocked during the intended period of travel.

Sending Money

There are various charges associated with withdrawing funds from an international bank. While the Chinese bank will not charge for withdrawing funds from an ATM machine, funds can only be withdrawn in CNY and the international bank may charge the standard non-bank card ATM fee, which for the Bank of America is now USD 5 per transaction. The maximum daily withdrawal amount on international accounts is determined by the international bank. This total amount may be withdrawn at once from the bank teller using an international bank ATM credit card, but a 3% service fee will be charged by most Chinese banks, including the Bank of China. The Guangdong Development Bank is said to allow withdrawal of funds from the bank teller using an international bank ATM card or international credit card with no service fee. The withdrawal limit per transaction from an ATM, however, is set by the Chinese bank, which varies accordingly bank and province. For example, the limit per transaction at the Bank of China in Zhejiang province is CNY 1,500, but the limit at the same bank in Shanghai is 2,000. The withdrawal limit per transaction from a China Merchants Bank ATM in Zhejiang is CNY 3,000, although this amount may exceed the daily withdrawal limit set by the international bank, such as the Bank of America. Since you are charged a service fee by the international bank per transaction it is most economical to withdraw funds from the local bank with the largest capacity per transaction, which in Hangzhou is the China Merchants Bank, with twenty-four hour ATM machines conveniently located near Zhejiang University:

China Merchants Bank
Phone: +86-571-88915620
Website
Address: 151-152 Yugu Road
Address in Chinese: 招商银行, 玉古路151-152号

For parents who want to send funds to their son or daughter in China, the simplest method is to deposit money in the student's U.S. bank account and for the student to withdraw these funds using the U.S. bank's ATM card from a Bank of China ATM as described above. Parents should deposit funds in the student's U.S. savings account, not checking, since all ATM transactions abroad are automatically withdrawn from the savings account, even if the student selects "checking" from the Chinese Bank of China ATM menu, and students without online banking will be unable to transfer funds between U.S. accounts from abroad.

Alternatively, international funds may be wired directly to the student's Bank of China account. Typically USD 10 per transaction will be charged by the intermediary during the wire transfer, which is taken from the amount received, in addition to any service fees charged by the bank of origin. Furthermore, all international wire transfers in the U.S. abroad go through New York City and may take several days to complete. In addition to the SWIFT code, the bank name, branch and address in English, the account holder's name and account number are required to execute an international bank transfers:

Bank of China, Zhejiang Branch
Address: 321 Feng Qi Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310015 P.R. China
Work: +86-571-95566 X 9; +86-571-571-85011888
Website
Address in Chinese:中国银行浙江省分行凤起路321号
SWIFT: BKCHCNBJ910

Please note that USD funds transferred into a Bank of China account can be withdrawn in USD only from the bank teller and not from an ATM. To withdraw CNY from USD funds, the student must first exchange USD into CNY currency inside the bank. The student must provide a valid passport and bankbook and enter the correct account password to exchange currency, and to withdraw USD the student must also have a temporary Chinese permanent residence card, which requires an X visa. Furthermore, USD funds wired from overseas into the account can not be changed to CNY at any branch outside Zhejiang province. There is a limit to the amount of USD that can be exchanged each day. The amount at the Bank of China is USD 10,000 per weekday and USD 1,000 per day on weekends.

International funds in USD may also be transferred to Western Union, with numerous locations throughout Hangzhou and one conveniently located near Zhejiang University on Yugu Road, next door to the post office. Western Union is certainly the fastest method, but associated transaction fees can be high. For example, to send USD 1,000 from New York to China will take less than one minute but will cost approximately USD 68, which will be added to the cost of sending the money transfer. After funds are transferred, the sender should call the recipient and inform her or him of the following information: Money transfer control number, receiver's first and last name, sender's first and last name, country of origin, and amount expected. With this information and a valid passport matching the first and last name of the receiver, the student will be able to pickup funds at no cost at any Western Union office between the hours of 9:00 A.M. and 5:00 P.M. seven days per week.

Western Union, Zhejiang University branch
Address: 157 Yugu Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, P.R. China 310013
Phone: +86-571-87969342
Address in Chinese: 西联汇款,玉古路157号

The China Center or visiting program directors may pay tuition to Zhejiang University Foreign Affairs Office directly, or deposit tuition in CNY to the following account:

Beneficiary: Zhejiang University (户名: 浙江大学 )
Account No. (帐号): 1202024609908808891
Bank: Hangzhou Commercial Bank, Zheda Branch (开户银行: 工商银行杭州市浙大分理处)

Zhejiang University tuition in USD may be paid to the following account:
Beneficiary: Zhejiang University
Account No.: 800100120218094014
SWIFT Code: BKCHCNBJ910
Bank: Bank of China, Zhejiang Province Branch
Address: 321 Fengqi Road, Hangzhou, P.R. China

You should not send personal checks, since as of April 1, 2005, all international checks must be reissued by Bank of China as a Chinese Deposit Account of Foreign Currency, which takes four weeks, but these funds will be frozen for an additional twelve weeks (for a total of sixteen weeks) before the student can withdraw in either USD or CNY. Sending currency through the post or express mail across international borders is both illegal and unsecured.

We recommend that all students activate on-line banking with their preferred U.S. bank prior to departing for China and to set-up on-line payment systems between this account and any credit cards to be brought with the student, so that payments can be made directly without sending checks from abroad. Students should, if possible, establish a direct deposit account with her or his home university financial aid office, so financial aid checks may be deposited directly into the U.S. bank account. In addition, students repaying credit card loans, bank loans or student loans should make arrangements with the lenders for automatic direct bill pay through her or his U.S. bank account, since such international finances can be difficult to manage while living abroad. The student should also bring several blank checks from a U.S. bank just in case she or he needs to send payment abroad. In addition, we recommend that the student bring toll telephone numbers for all financial institutions, such as credit card, bank and lending companies that he or she may need to contact while abroad, since U.S. toll free numbers used by such institutions can not be dialed from China and alternative toll numbers are often not listed.

Counterfeit Currency

Counterfeit currency smuggled from Taiwan is still a problem in mainland China, although the risk to unwittingly receive a counterfeit bill has greatly decreased in the past decade. Bank notes received from an authorized bank do not need to be inspected, but students are advised to carefully inspect larger bills received from a merchant. The most reliable method is to place the bill in an electronic ultraviolet light counterfeit bill detector, which all banks and most merchants use to inspect hundred and fifty yuan notes. These machines are used to detect the paper of an authentic bank note, which will absorb the ultraviolet light. Counterfeit notes will reflect the light and appear bright and some machines will sound an alarm if the bill is a counterfeit. Smaller merchants and customers, however, need to resort to manual methods. Many merchants firmly grasp the suspect bill with two hands along both long edges and lightly rustle the bill. Authentic bills will sound loud and crisp, but this method takes some practice to master. Typically merchants will only inspect larger denominations, such as the hundred and fifty yuan note, although twenty, ten, five and even one yuan notes are sometimes counterfeited, merchants rarely inspect these lower denominations as carefully. Since the larger counterfeit bills are quickly detected, they do not remain in circulation long and so therefore appear relatively unused.

Counterfeit bills will be confiscated by the bank and unmanned ticket machines, and will be rejected by merchants. However, even authentic bills that are tattered or torn are often rejected by merchants, so do not accept bills in large denominations that have been taped together or have large tears, missing bits, or appear to have gone through a load of wash.

To inspect a suspect bill please follow the nine methods below and compare to the corresponding number on the sample image of the one hundred yuan note:
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1. Hold it to the light and check the note for its watermark, located on the left obverse side. The one hundred and the fifty yuan note both have a watermark of Chairman Mao Zedong, identical to his visage printed on the obverse of the bill. The twenty yuan note has a watermark of a lotus flower in the same position and the ten yuan note has a watermark of a rose and the Arabic numeral '10'. and the five yuan note has the watermark of the narcissus flower and the Arabic numeral '5'. If you suspect the watermark is counterfeit, lay a thin piece of paper, such as the store receipt, over the watermark of the suspect bill on its obverse side and make a rubbing with a coin laid flat on the surface of the paper over the watermark. If the face of Chairman Mao suddenly appears like a ghost on the overlaid paper, this is an authentic bank note.

2. Hold the bill to the light and look for the thin, metal security strip embedded in the fabric and running the width of the note. In a one hundred yuan note, it is printed with 'RMB 100' repeatedly and in a fifty yuan bill it is printed with 'RMB 50'. The security strip in the twenty yuan note appears dashed when held to the light and in the ten yuan note it will appear dashed and iridescent when not held to the light and solid when held to the light.

3. Hold the obverse side of the bill to the light and check for an image of an ancient Chinese coin in the left bottom corner of the ten, fifty and hundred yuan notes. The red and blue halves on either side of the hundred yuan note and the green and blude halves on either side of the fifty yuan note will form the image of a half dark half light circle with a square center when held to the light.

4. Check the iridescence of the Arabic numeral 100 or 50 in the lower left corner on the obverse side of these bills by twisting the corner to catch the light. The hundred yuan note will appear iridescent green and the fifty yuan note appears iridescent yellow.

5. Feel for the brail ridges along the coat lapels on the shoulders of Chairman Mao, who is pictured on the obverse of the hundred, fifty, twenty and ten yuan notes. This method is particularly useful in lowlight situations.

6. Inspect for tiny blue and red fibers randomly embedded in the fabric of the bill. On an authentic bill these fibers can be removed with tweezers.

7. Check that the horizontal serial number on the hundred yuan note is black and the vertical serial number is identical and written in blue. On the fifty yuan note the horizontal serial number is black and the vertical serial number is red, while on one, five, ten and twenty yuan notes, the first two letters and the first two numbers are red and the remaining numbers are black.

8. Hidden within the complex design below the Arabic numeral in the upper right hand corner of the obverse side of every bill is the same numeral written vertically, which can only be detected when held under a bright light at forty-five degrees, although it can be difficult to detect without the aid of a magnifying glass.

9. Hidden in complex design to the right of the symbol of the Chinese communist party in the upper right hand corner is the Arabic numeral of the denomination for the five, ten, fifty and hundred yuan note, respectively. Inside the numeral the number of the denomination is printed repeatedly in fine print.

Last updated on Jul 04, 2006

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