- The RMB is convertible for current account items (salary, service fees, dividends) with documentation, but the capital account remains administered. 经常项目凭真实性单证可兑换，资本项目仍受管理。
- Banks perform substantive authenticity review — the document set, not the account balance, decides whether a remittance goes through. 银行实行真实性审核，单证决定放行。
- Lawful, tax-paid income of foreign employees is remittable — this is a documented right, not a loophole. 外籍员工合法完税收入可购汇汇出，这是制度内权利。
- Splitting transactions to stay under review thresholds is unlawful structuring with real consequences, including watch-listing. 拆分交易属违规「蚂蚁搬家」，有列入关注名单等后果。
- Tax residency (183 days; the six-year rule) determines when worldwide income becomes taxable in China — plan it, do not discover it. 183 天与六年规则决定全球所得纳税义务。
The architecture: current account open, capital account administered
China’s Regulations on Foreign Exchange Administration draw the fundamental line. Current account transactions — wages, service income, trade payments, dividends, routine family support — are convertible: banks settle and remit them upon verification of authentic underlying documents. Capital account transactions — buying assets, lending, portfolio investment across the border — remain subject to registration and approval regimes. For an individual, the Measures for the Administration of Individual Foreign Exchange add a facilitation layer: an annual quota (long set at the equivalent of USD 50,000, subject to current regulations) within which individuals convert currency on a simplified basis. The quota is a convenience threshold, not a cap on lawful rights: amounts beyond it are handled through the documented channels appropriate to the transaction’s real nature.
《外汇管理条例》确立经常项目可兑换、资本项目受管理的基本架构；《个人外汇管理办法》设年度便利化额度（长期为等值 5 万美元，以现行规定为准）。额度是便利线而非权利上限，超出部分按交易真实性质走单证渠道。
What the bank actually reviews
| Typical outbound scenario 情形 | Core document set banks expect 银行审核要点 |
|---|---|
| Salary remittance by a foreign employee 工资汇出 | Employment contract or income certificate plus individual income tax records covering the amounts — after-tax lawful income is remittable as a current account item. |
| Property sale proceeds 卖房价款汇出 | The registered sale contract, proof of the original compliant purchase, tax completion certificates for the sale, and identity documents — reviewed by the bank under SAFE rules before conversion and remittance. |
| Dividends from your Chinese company 公司分红 | Board resolution, audited statements, tax filings on the dividend — corporate profits exit through the company’s own documented channel, not through personal cards. |
| Inheritance / emigration transfer 继承与移民财产转移 | A dedicated application regime exists for transferring inherited assets and for emigrants moving accumulated lawful assets abroad — slower, but it is the channel that produces a clean paper trail. |
Where the legal risk concentrates
Three patterns account for most individual foreign-exchange trouble. Structuring (“ant moving”): splitting one economic transaction across multiple people, days or accounts to stay under review thresholds — SAFE treats aggregated splitting as evasion, with consequences from watch-listing (loss of the facilitation quota) to administrative penalties under the Regulations. Informal value transfer: settling RMB against foreign currency through unofficial intermediaries or offsetting arrangements — this is unlawful foreign exchange trading, and in scale it crosses into criminal territory under the illegal business operations offence. Borrowed channels: running your money through a friend’s quota or account, which contaminates two compliance records and, when the friend’s cooperation stops, leaves you with no enforceable claim you would want to litigate. The consistent lesson of the enforcement cases is unglamorous: the documented channel is slower per transaction but is the only one that compounds — every clean remittance builds the record that makes the next one easier.
风险集中在三类：拆分交易（「蚂蚁搬家」，可致列入关注名单及行政处罚）、地下钱庄式非法买卖外汇（规模化可能触及非法经营罪）、借用他人额度或账户（污染双方合规记录且债权难以主张）。合规渠道单笔更慢，但记录可累积。
The tax residency overlay
Funds questions are inseparable from tax residency. Under the Individual Income Tax Law (as amended effective 2019), an individual without domicile in China who resides here 183 days or more in a tax year is a Chinese tax resident. The implementing rules add the six-year rule: non-domiciled residents are taxed on worldwide income only after residing 183+ days in each of six consecutive years without a single absence of more than 30 days — one qualifying absence resets the count (details subject to current regulations). For long-stay expats with foreign investment income, this is the single most consequential piece of planning arithmetic in this guide, and it interacts with your home country’s treaty with China.
无住所个人一个纳税年度居住满 183 天为居民个人；「六年规则」下连续六年满 183 天且无单次离境超 30 天的，境外所得纳入征税，单次离境超 30 天可重置计算（以现行规定为准），并与税收协定交互作用。
Frequently asked
- Regulations of the PRC on Foreign Exchange Administration《中华人民共和国外汇管理条例》 —— the current account / capital account distinction, supporting "The architecture: current account open, capital account administered".
- Measures for the Administration of Individual Foreign Exchange《个人外汇管理办法》及实施细则 —— the individual conversion facility and purpose restrictions, supporting "The architecture: current account open, capital account administered" and "What the bank actually reviews".
- Individual Income Tax Law of the PRC and Implementing Regulations《个人所得税法》及实施条例 —— supporting "The tax residency overlay".
- Announcements on the tax treatment of non-domiciled individuals —— supporting "The tax residency overlay".
- SAFE rules on authenticity review and individual watch-listing —— supporting "What the bank actually reviews" and "Where the legal risk concentrates".
This page is general legal information and research commentary, not legal or tax advice on any specific case. Figures are subject to current regulations. 本页为一般性法律信息与研究综述，不构成个案法律或税务意见；具体标准以现行规定为准。
