Depositing local currency in American Bank branch?

Banks usually incorporate in each country so the Bank of America you see in Shanghai is a separate entity than your bank back home. You will most likely not be able to simply deposit money into you account based in the States from Shanghai.

Transferring funds between countries, when one of them is not a developed economy, is never easy. I think for you the best solution is to drain your ICBC account when you leave the country and take cash out of the PRC. Even though RMB is technically a non convertible currency, it is de facto accepted all over Southeast Asia. If you are leaving via Hong Kong, you can change your RMB into whatever currency you want there.

I would argue that travelling with a few thousand USD is not such a big risk. But if you want it off your hands, using Western Union from a place like HK is the best choice. From HK your maximum transfer is USD 7000 per transaction with multiple transactions possible in a given day. You can do this from some other places in SEA too but you need to make sure that the country of origin has liberal laws on the transfer of funds. You can check that through Western Union's website.

While you could change Chinese currency in other parts of Asia, I dont recommend that. I got stuck with lots of Mongolian Tugriks because I thought they would be able to exchange them in China. They couldn't. Now I am stuck with them.

I do suggest going with Western Union. That way it's done and you don't have to worry about it.

Have you asked your chinese bank how much it is to do a wire transfer to your US bank through the Chinese bank? That might be an option. I mean really, how do other people do it? I am sure there is a very easy way. Ask you bank. If they say nay, than do WU and call it a day.

You should be careful when taking local currency out of any country but there is a world of difference between RMB and togrogs. RMB is almost a hard currency, at least in Asia, changeable anywhere just like Canadian dollars are. Mongolian togrog is a minor currency, virtually worthless outside the country's borders.

I am sure there is a very easy way

People from developed countries have very high expectations about services and government regulations. But outside that rarified group of countries, people put up daily with ridiculous, non-sensical regulations and those explicitly put in place to prevent people from doing what is in their best interest. The Chinese have not legally made RMB a convertible currency so that is the obvious reason why transferring funds out of the country isn't exactly going to be easy.

Agree with these answers. When I was in Viet Nam, I saw a Wells Fargo bank in Saigon. Went in to see if I could withdraw or deposit, but it was just an office of the branch, not an actual bank. Calling the 800 number in the US was worthless of course, what did they know?

I would suggest you check out the rates of Moneygram, as they can be a lot cheaper than WU. Also, if you don't want to carry all that money around, what's the first country you're stopping in? Any chance you could do any financial business htere?

You could also post this question on expat forums where expats live in China. they'd know a lot better.

Hi OP,

HK is your best bet. Great exchange rates on RMB, probably the best. It's a relatively seamless place to xfer cash around the world..

Moneygram is usually cheaper than W. Union, they may have different sending options too.

Don't send $ out of China directly! Such a hassle, there can be delays etc.

#1 Do you have a legal job - contract, visa, pay tax etc? If so your Chinese bank should be able to transfer US$ to your US bank account. I do this twice a year to NZ. Never had any major hassles.
#2 If your Chinese bank is not part of the China Union Pay system (which means it must be a small local bank) why not open an account at the Bank of China or other big bank, and get a debit card which you can use when you get home. You might end up with less than 140 RMB in your account which would end up having to be lost

Either just carry cash, buy some gold or something else valuable that's easy to carry, or consider transferring money via bitcoin!

Benefits: faster transfer, lower fees, government not invited (should not demonstrably affect tax situation).

Drawbacks: more hassle to understand/use, minor increase in exchange rate risk.

Thanks for your help everyone,

I went inti my bank in China (ICBC) and asked them about the process of transferring to my American bank account, and it seems quite simple and routine. So I've decided to just take the simple route.