How to Send Money From the U.S. to China - Best Way (2025 Comparison)

Sending money to China might seem complicated. The Chinese government doesn't make it easy. They want to know where every dollar comes from and where it goes. Here's what actually happens: you pick a transfer service, fill out a bunch of forms, and hope nothing gets flagged. Sometimes it works fast. Sometimes your money gets stuck for weeks while someone decides if your transaction looks suspicious.

Most people mess this up because they don't know the rules. They pick the wrong service or forget to include the right paperwork. Then they're calling customer service, trying to figure out why their funds disappeared into the banking system. But some methods work better than others. Wire transfers are reliable but expensive. Crypto is fast but risky if you don't know what you're doing.

The smart move is learning how each option really works before you send anything. Know what documents they want. Know how long it takes. Know what red flags make Chinese banks nervous. That way, when you need to move money, whether it's helping family or paying for business, you do it once, and it works.

Money Transfer Options

There are many different options when it comes to how to send money from the U.S. to China, each with its own fees, speed, and delivery method. You can transfer money via bank wire, money transfer operators, digital wallet, and fintech. Each of the choices may come with its own fee structures, speed of delivery, transaction limits, etc. Below is a comparison of five popular ways to send funds from the USA to China in 2025:

1. Due: Multi-Currency Fintech Accounts (Borderless Accounts)

If you are an individual who consistently sends money to China, a multi-currency account could save you a lot of money and time. Services like Due let you hold both USD and then convert your USD to CNY (Chinese Yuan) with competitive rates, as well as send local payments in China, as if you were paying in a domestic transaction.

If you are a business paying suppliers, freelancers, or partners in China, choose an option that makes more sense financially as compared to making a foreign payment, as you won't utilize foreign exchange markups or service fees for wire fees. This provides a better degree of freedom, transparency, speed, and control over the transfer of funds.

Tip: Always check the overall cost for you when making remittance payments (forward fee + exchange rate). The overall cost might be 5-10x higher depending on what payment platform you use. Spending a few minutes to check out options might save you significantly! You might also use the World Bank's Remittance Prices database to find the best deal on the payment you want.

2. Wise – Transparent Pricing, Mid-Market Rates

Wise allows you to convert currencies instantly at the mid-market price, with no hidden cost to you. When you send $5,000 USD to China using a wire transfer, the current mid-market exchange rate is 1 USD = 7.2118 CNY (as of August 1, 2025), so the recipient receives 35,747.78 CNY. Here's the total fee breakdown:

• Wire transfer fee: $6.11
• Wise service fee: $37.01
• Total: $43.12 (0.86%)

As of August 2025, Wise allows you to send up to 50,000 CNY per transfer via Alipay or WeChat, with annual recipient limits ranging from 300,000 to 600,000 CNY. Transfers via UnionPay are capped at 33,000 CNY per transaction.

3. Xoom by PayPal – Actual Fees and Exchange Rates

Xoom allows you to send money to China to use with UnionPay cards or mobile wallets (e.g., Alipay and WeChat Pay). This is an example from August of 2025:

As an example, a transaction of $5,000 USD to a mobile wallet had a fee of $0, no matter how you funded the transfer. The same transaction to a UnionPay card and funding the transfer using a debit card had a fee of $62.99, while if you funded it with a credit card, the fee would have been $151.49. The exchange rate was 7.1076 CNY to USD, which was a poor mid-market exchange rate of 7.2118 CNY to USD.

4. International Bank Wire Transfer - SWIFT

Using your local USA Bank, a wire transfer using SWIFT is a secure but costly option. Most banks charge a fixed fee of between $30 and $60, plus an additional 2% to 4% markup on the exchange rate. An international wire may take 2 - 5 business days to arrive. Intermediary banks may deduct anywhere from $10 - $30, and the recipient's bank in China can charge an additional incoming wire fee as well. Wires are suitable for larger or formal business transactions, but are slow and expensive.

5. Money Transfer Operators (Western Union, MoneyGram)

Operators such as Western Union and MoneyGram provide cash pick-ups, transfers to bank accounts, and mobile wallet payouts (ex, Alipay and WeChat Pay). Transactions usually arrive immediately or within hours. There will be fees involved based on how you fund the transfers:

• Bank Account: about $5–$15
• Debit/Credit Card: $40–$75 or so for a $1,000 transfer

These services are primarily designed for personal remittances and generally do not support transactions to business accounts in China.

What Information Is Required to Make an International Transfer to China

Before you send your money overseas in an international transfer to China, you need to collect as much information as possible. If you have adequate information, your money will arrive at the right address without any delays - sending it to the wrong address is often the biggest complication with these transactions. So, what information do you need to get ready to send your payment?

For Traditional SWIFT Wire Transfers

If you are using a traditional SWIFT wire, among other things, you will need:

• Recipient's full name (exactly as it is on their account)
• Bank account number and name (Chinese account numbers typically are 16-19 digits long)
• Branch address (some transfers will require it)
• SWIFT/BIC code (a code usually between 8 and 11 characters long to identify the bank internationally)
• A CNAPS code (a domestic clearing code) is required if you are wiring money to any bank in mainland China.
• The recipient's complete address in China will be collected for compliance reasons.

For Modern Fintech Services

If you are using something new like Due, the whole process is much simpler. Once you have registered for and verified your Due account, you just sign into the app and transfer funds to the recipient(s) in China; you only need the recipient's name, their bank name, and their account number. Due can manage local clearing using its own network, which also minimizes the issues of delays or incorrect payments.

Engaging with China? Open a Multi-Currency Account

If you are engaged with China often and are importing merchandise, paying suppliers, or doing any kind of cross-border business, then a multi-currency account will save you a sizable amount of money. Sending the payment to China through your normal U.S. bank will cost you. There is always a wire fee each time you send a payment. To make matters worse, your bank will usually provide terrible exchange rates, cutting into your net income.

Due offers a global account service which lets businesses hold multiple currencies, view the balances on one dashboard, and make payments with. You could receive your payment from your European client in euros, pay your manufacturer in Guangzhou in yuan, and hold your operating funds in dollars - all in the same system.

Before You Send Money to China, Consider This

Sending money to China from the United States is more complex than simply comparing costs. You must look at important regulations that may impact your transfer, especially if you're using an app to send a significant amount of funds.

How Annual Limits Work in China

Individual Chinese citizens can receive or convert foreign currency (including USD) to Chinese currency, Renminbi (CNY), up to a total of $50,000 each calendar year. This quota is set by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) and applies primarily to personal transactions.

For businesses, different rules and higher limits may apply depending on the transaction type and company registration. If your individual recipient has already received their quota for the year, receiving more money may cause difficulty because either their bank will reject the transfer, or they will need to obtain special permission from SAFE to receive additional funds.

Furthermore, know that Chinese Banks monitor large incoming wire transfers into personal bank accounts. If a person accepts an amount larger than they usually do, the bank may place the funds on hold temporarily and issue a call to examine both the source of the funds and the purpose of the payment. This is a standard background-check process and should not cause alarm for legitimate transactions.

As for the U.S., there is no limit to how much you can send to recipients outside the US, but if you make an international transfer of more than $10,000, your bank must file a report with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network because of the Bank Secrecy Act.

Compliance Checklist

1. Sanctions Screening (U.S.): All cross-border transfers are screened against the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions lists. If the recipient’s name or entity matches a listed party, the payment may be delayed, rejected, or even blocked and reported to OFAC within 10 days.
2. Suspicious Activity & Anti-Structuring: Under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), banks must report international transfers over USD 10,000 and file Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) for unusual patterns—even below that threshold. Splitting payments into smaller amounts to avoid reporting (known as “structuring” or “smurfing”) is illegal in both the U.S. and China.
3. Business vs. Personal Payments: Commercial transfers typically require invoices, contracts, or export/import documentation. U.S. taxpayers with qualifying foreign accounts may have FBAR/FATCA reporting obligations. Form 3520 applies mainly to large foreign gifts or trust distributions, usually for U.S. recipients, not senders.
4. Chinese Purpose Codes & Documentation: China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) assigns purpose codes to all incoming transfers, such as trade in goods, services, or salary. Using the wrong code or failing to provide supporting documents (e.g., contracts, invoices) can lead to rejection or delays.
5. Enhanced Monitoring in China: Chinese banks may hold large or unusual inflows pending source-of-funds or purpose verification. Common triggers include sudden large deposits, mismatched payment purposes, or transfers from high-risk regions. Respond promptly to any bank inquiries.

Time Zones Differences and Bank Processing Times

China is usually 12-16 hours ahead of the US, depending on the American time zone and the application of daylight saving. If you are not thinking about it, this difference can create potential timing issues for your transfers. The reality is that when you are eating your lunch in New York City, they are already asleep in Beijing. If you are sending a wire transfer in the afternoon on the East Coast, the banks are already closed in China. As a result, your money will sit and wait until the morning when they open for business again.

A bank will also have cut-off times for same-day processing. If you miss it (which sometimes is 2 PM - 5 PM, depending on the bank), your transaction will sit there until the next working day. Some online money transfer services may be available 24/7, but if they are ultimately processing the transfer in a traditional banking approach in China, it is still only going to move during Chinese working hours.

Watch For The Hidden Cost When Sending Money To China

You should be aware that sending money to China costs you more than what is always promoted as a transfer fee. The biggest cost of your transfer is usually the exchange rate they provide you with. Banks and transfer services usually offer "no fees", but they are making money off the currency conversion.

For example, let's say USD to CNY was actually 7.20 (you can check that rate by googling "USD to CNY"), but your bank or transfer service allowed you to convert your money at 7.00. You may think that 0.20 is not a big deal; however, it is actually a hidden cost that would be 2.8% of profit for them. If your transfer was $1,000, this is a hidden profit of $28 they made from you.

Understanding CNY, CNH, and RMB

When sending money to China, there are various references to the Chinese currency. Below is a description of these same-currency terms:

• RMB (Renminbi): The official name of the currency system in China.
• CNY (Chinese Yuan): The currency code of the onshore currency (the currency for use within China).
• CNH (Offshore Yuan): The name for the version of the yuan which can be traded internationally, and, as examples, in Hong Kong or London.

For all practical purposes, bank transfers to bank accounts in China will almost always settle in CNY, even if the service or phone app refers to the currency as RMB or yuan. CNH is important as this has implications for trading and offshore financial reasons.

Legal and Compliance Considerations

When it comes to international transfers, make sure you only use licensed, legal channels - especially when sending money to countries with strict currency controls like China. These countries are filled with underground banking, as well as informal agents who are willing to help you "skip" restrictions, which can put you in direct violation of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations, and legal troubles for you and the recipient can arise.

Some are platforms that have compliance built in. For example, Due is a platform that requires you to "KYC"/"Onboard" when sending funds. KYC means you go through a process of verification of identity. This is done through various forms, from a driver's license to biometric verification, setting up a secure wallet, and passing the KYC compliance check. With these processes completed in Due, you could send them local payments in Chinese Yuan (CNY) and local, in-country domestic settlement methods. The business and freelancer can remain compliant and reduce fees and settlement time.

Important Notice: This information is provided for educational purposes only and is current as of August 2025. Exchange rates, fees, transfer limits, and regulations change frequently. Always verify the latest rates, fees, and requirements directly with service providers and relevant regulatory authorities before making any financial decisions.