【Epoch Times December 16, 2025】China’s mainland banking industry will enhance verification for individual remittances exceeding $1000 starting from New Year’s Day next year, according to regulatory requirements. Individuals will be required to provide additional information such as the purpose of funds and the recipient’s account. This requirement has sparked dissatisfaction among the public, who believe the new regulations will make it harder to transfer funds and are even worried that funds may not be able to smoothly leave the country.
Several interviewees from mainland China stated that individuals conducting cross-border remittances exceeding $1000 need to explain the purpose of the funds, and this policy will officially take effect on January 1 next year. Ms. Wang from Xi’an expressed concern during the interview, as she buys life insurance in Hong Kong and needs to remit US dollars to a bank account there annually. She fears that transferring several thousand dollars in premiums may not be smoothly processed. “I’m afraid the new requirements will hinder me from sending money to Hong Kong.”
Another interviewee, Mr. Li, mentioned that he is investing overseas in financial planning, paying for life insurance, planning for immigration, and allocating foreign currency assets. “I’ve already sold two properties in Chengdu, exchanged the foreign currency, and now there’s less than two weeks left. How can I handle this? I can only ‘move out like an ant’ to take the money out, but even passing through customs is not safe.”
These changes stem from a regulation previously announced by the People’s Bank of China and other departments. Official documents indicate that starting from January 1, 2026, financial institutions will strengthen customer identity verification and due diligence for individual cross-border remittances of $1000 or more, positioning these measures as arrangements for anti-money laundering and risk prevention.
Recently, on platforms like Douyin and WeChat, numerous influencers and netizens have been issuing reminders regarding the requirement to disclose the purpose of cross-border remittances exceeding $1000 starting in 2026. Some netizens commented that they are not against compliance requirements but are concerned that banks may not uniformly apply these standards, affecting normal expenses such as tuition fees, premiums, and family financial arrangements. Some inquired whether small and frequent cross-border remittances would fall under stricter risk identification parameters.
Mr. Yu, a bank depositor, mentioned that when he recently visited the China Merchants Bank for inquiries, he was informed about the new regulations for cross-border remittances starting on January 1 next year. However, when he further inquired about the specific implementation details, the staff responded that they would need to await unified instructions, and the exact procedures are not yet clear.
An employee from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China told reporters, “The new regulations have been introduced, but the specific customer information to be verified will depend on the unified guidelines issued by the central bank. It is certain that remittance requirements will be stricter than before.”
Regarding the official classification of the new cross-border remittance regulations as “anti-money laundering,” some interviewees and market observers do not entirely agree. Mr. Qin, a bank officer in Tianjin, mentioned that the bank’s anti-money laundering system has been in place for over twenty years, with reporting and monitoring requirements for certain amounts of fund flows. He stated, “This adjustment is closer to enhancing the process management of foreign exchange fund flows on the operational level.”
Mr. Qin pointed out that the anti-money laundering system itself is not a new requirement, but the implementation level and coverage of cross-border remittance review are expanding. “This indicates a shift in financial supervision focus from formal compliance to continuous identification of fund flow behaviors,” he said.
Public data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange of China shows that since 2022, there have been net outflows in the capital and financial accounts in some quarters, with increased fluctuations in foreign direct investment and securities investment fund flows. At the same time, demand from the private sector for overseas asset allocation remains at a relatively high level.
A state-owned bank employee engaged in cross-border operations who preferred not to be named told reporters that compliance checks for individual cross-border remittances have noticeably tightened in recent years. With the new regulations about to be implemented, banks will need to bear higher verification responsibilities at the operational level. Although the annual foreign exchange purchasing quota has not been adjusted, the transaction background needs to be explained more thoroughly, and the relevant proof documents must be retained as required.
Numerous financial practitioners have indicated that the new regulations do not alter the $50,000 annual foreign exchange purchase quota per Chinese resident. However, in practice, financial institutions will need to conduct more detailed due diligence on the purpose of funds, sources, and transaction backgrounds. The relevant information will be incorporated into the risk monitoring system and possess retrospective tracking capabilities.
A financial market researcher named Wang Jia mentioned that this round of cross-border fund scrutiny initiated under the guise of “anti-money laundering” is not due to sudden risks but because regulatory authorities hope to identify long-term and continuous trends in fund outflows earlier. “The focus is not on blocking normal fund transfers but on proactively detecting potential risk signals,” he stated.