On today’s numbers, sending $5,000, Remitly delivers ¥33,269.45 and Wise ¥33,019.20: ¥250.25 more with Remitly.
To reach a mainland bank account (usually a UnionPay card number starting with 62) you can wire from your US bank, in dollars or in yuan, or use Wise, Remitly or Western Union. Wires carry larger flat fees but no per-transfer cap from the online services, so the cheapest route depends on the amount.
What arrives in the bank account today
CNY that arrives and total cost versus the mid-market rate
Amount
WisePay by bank (ACH) → bank card / AlipayLive
RemitlyBank account or debit cardLive
Western Union → bank accountPay from bank accountLive
Bank wire in USDChase (online, $40)Estimate
Bank wire in CNYChase (online: $5, $0 from $5,000)Estimate
You pay $1,000
¥6,585.31Total cost $13.57 (1.36%)
¥6,619.97Total cost $8.38 (0.84%)Most received
¥6,515.37Total cost $24.05 (2.40%)
¥6,233.08Total cost $66.33 (6.63%)
¥6,476.46Total cost $29.88 (2.99%)
You pay $5,000
¥33,019.20Total cost $53.97 (1.08%)
¥33,269.45Total cost $16.48 (0.33%)Most received
¥32,628.82Total cost $112.45 (2.25%)
¥32,898.68Total cost $72.02 (1.44%)
¥32,545.01Total cost $125.00 (2.50%)
You pay $20,000
¥132,146.30Total cost $205.47 (1.03%)Over the per-transfer limit
¥133,117.55Total cost $59.98 (0.30%)Most received
¥130,554.26Total cost $443.95 (2.22%)Over the per-transfer limit
¥132,894.68Total cost $93.37 (0.47%)
¥130,180.05Total cost $500.00 (2.50%)
Computed at the mid-market rate 1 USD = 6.6759 CNY (Frankfurter (blended central-bank rates), 2026-10-20); bank wires in USD use Bank of China’s TT buying rate 6.6664. All of today’s rates
Fees, exchange rate and data source
How each one is priced (at $1,000)
Provider
Fees
Delivery
Data
Wise · Pay by bank (ACH) → bank card / Alipay
$3.47 + 1.01% sending fee, converts at the mid-market rate
Online. Pays out CNY to a UnionPay card, Alipay or Weixin.
Wise: Alipay and Weixin up to 50,000 CNY per transfer; UnionPay cards up to 33,000 CNY.
Wise says it converts at the live mid-market rate and charges an upfront fee. The fees above come from Wise’s live price table (flat fee plus the effective percentage at $1,000) and refresh automatically.
Recipient must be a mainland Chinese citizen (Alipay also accepts HK/Macao residents with a Mainland Travel Permit). Alipay caps apply across all services, e.g. family support 800,000 CNY a year.
Wise gives a discount on amounts over 25,000 USD a month, not modelled here.
Online. Pays out to a bank account, Alipay or Weixin.
Remitly publishes a $1.99 fee for China but not its exchange-rate markup. The fee and markup here are Remitly’s standard quotes at $100, $1,000 and $5,000 as recorded by Wise’s price comparison (time shown above).
New customers: no fee on the first transfer and a promotional rate on the first 2,000 USD (not modelled).
Remitly’s US maximum is 300,000 USD; your own limit depends on verification and delivery method.
Online, to a Chinese bank account with a UnionPay card (starts with 62).
Western Union: up to $7,000 online to bank accounts in China.
Fee and markup are Western Union’s quote for a bank-account payout paid from a bank account, as recorded by Wise’s price comparison (time shown above). Not a published schedule; check your own quote. The debit-card fee is from WU’s estimator on 2026-10-18.
Your US bank wires dollars; the Chinese bank converts at its TT buying rate (现汇买入价).
Base rate is Bank of China’s live TT buying rate. Other Chinese banks post similar but not identical boards.
Intermediary (correspondent) banks may deduct a fee in transit, and some Chinese banks charge for incoming wires. Neither is published consistently, so $25 and ¥0 are placeholders: ask both banks and enter real numbers.
Converting USD to CNY in China uses the recipient’s $50,000 annual quota (see rules).
Bank of America says international wires typically arrive in 1 to 5 business days.
Your US bank converts to CNY itself and wires yuan. Low fee, but the bank sets the rate.
Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo all say their exchange rate includes a markup or spread set at their discretion, and none publishes it. The 2.5% default is only a placeholder: ask your bank for its USD→CNY rate and type it in above.
Some Chinese banks charge for incoming wires; ask the recipient’s bank.
Each person in China may convert up to USD 50,000 equivalent of foreign currency into CNY (结汇) per calendar year with just their ID, and separately buy up to USD 50,000 (购汇). It resets on January 1; unused quota doesn’t carry over.
SAFE: it is a facilitation quota, not a cap: “等值5万美元是年度便利化额度，不是个人每年结汇、购汇的限额。”
Receiving foreign currency from abroad has no amount or count limit. The quota applies when the recipient converts it to CNY.
Above the quota, the recipient converts with documents showing the source, e.g. for family support (赡家款): proof of direct-family relationship and the overseas payer’s income proof. Close relatives can be authorised to convert within quota on someone’s behalf.
Foreign nationals in China get the 50,000 conversion-to-CNY quota but not the buying quota, unless they hold a Chinese permanent residence card.
Splitting conversions (分拆) to get around the quota is prohibited, e.g. having relatives each convert part of one remittance.
Lending your quota to someone: a first case gets a risk warning letter, a repeat lands you on the watch list (关注名单). Borrowing other people’s quota puts you on the list directly.
Anyone on the list must show transaction documents for every conversion, for that year and the next two.
What is the cheapest way to send money to a Chinese bank account?
On today’s numbers, sending $1,000, Remitly delivers ¥6,619.97 and Wise ¥6,585.31: ¥34.67 more with Remitly. On today’s numbers, sending $5,000, Remitly delivers ¥33,269.45 and Wise ¥33,019.20: ¥250.25 more with Remitly. On today’s numbers, sending $20,000, Remitly delivers ¥133,117.55 and Bank wire in USD (estimate) ¥132,894.68: ¥222.87 more with Remitly. Bank-wire numbers include placeholder estimates for intermediary fees and the bank’s FX markup; check the providers’ per-transfer limits in the table.
Should I wire US dollars or Chinese yuan?
Your US bank wires dollars; the Chinese bank converts at its TT buying rate (现汇买入价). Your US bank converts to CNY itself and wires yuan. Low fee, but the bank sets the rate. Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo all say their exchange rate includes a markup or spread set at their discretion, and none publishes it. The 2.5% default is only a placeholder: ask your bank for its USD→CNY rate and type it in above.
Intermediary (correspondent) banks may deduct a fee in transit, and some Chinese banks charge for incoming wires. Neither is published consistently, so $25 and ¥0 are placeholders: ask both banks and enter real numbers.
Is there an annual limit for the recipient in China?
Each person in China may convert up to USD 50,000 equivalent of foreign currency into CNY (结汇) per calendar year with just their ID, and separately buy up to USD 50,000 (购汇). It resets on January 1; unused quota doesn’t carry over. SAFE: it is a facilitation quota, not a cap: “等值5万美元是年度便利化额度，不是个人每年结汇、购汇的限额。” Receiving foreign currency from abroad has no amount or count limit. The quota applies when the recipient converts it to CNY.
