On November 5th, Zhou Xiaoyun, a lawyer from the Guangdong Guangqiang Law Firm and a former reporter from Southern Weekend, as well as the former chief editor of Southern Metropolis Daily, accused Construction Bank’s Dongying Branch in Shandong of considering him a criminal suspect for withdrawing over 10,000 yuan. The news quickly went viral on Weibo and gained widespread attention.
In his article titled “Outrageous! I was Reported to the Police by Construction Bank’s Dongying Branch for Withdrawing Money,” Zhou Xiaoyun detailed his unpleasant experience while trying to withdraw money from the bank. He was on a business trip in Dongying City, Shandong province for a week when he learned that a friend from another city was getting married and decided to attend the wedding. To prepare for the wedding, he needed to withdraw cash to give as a gift, so he went to Construction Bank’s Dongying Dongcheng Branch.
According to People’s Bank of China regulations, any withdrawal above 50,000 yuan requires a statement of purpose. Zhou Xiaoyun thought that withdrawing less than 50,000 yuan would not be an issue. However, he was shocked when the bank teller demanded to know the specifics of his purchase. Feeling indignant, he questioned the bank’s invasion of his privacy by asking why his purchases were of any concern to the bank.
The situation escalated when the teller inquired about a previous transaction where someone transferred a certain amount of money to Zhou Xiaoyun’s account on a specific date the previous month. Feeling interrogated, Zhou Xiaoyun questioned the teller’s authority and refused to disclose any information, believing that the bank was treating every ordinary citizen as a criminal suspect.
The teller informed Zhou Xiaoyun that they had contacted the Anti-Fraud Center and the local police station, but there was no response. Eventually, the Anti-Fraud Center did not show up to verify the situation. After a standby for half an hour, a supervisor informed Zhou Xiaoyun that the police were not contacted and asked if he still wanted to withdraw the money. Realizing that the rules could be flexible based on the leadership’s discretion, Zhou Xiaoyun decided not to withdraw the money and left the bank.
Zhou Xiaoyun’s accusations against Construction Bank stirred up a storm on social media, briefly making it to the trending topic on Weibo but soon disappearing from the hot search list. Currently, the bank and the Dongying City Anti-Fraud Center are blaming each other for the incident.
On November 5th, a bank staff member told reporters from Dahe Newspaper and Yu Video’s “Seeing” program that regardless of the amount, withdrawals of over 10,000 yuan or 50,000 yuan require explanations of the usage and source of funds, as it was a standard requirement set by the Dongying City Anti-Fraud Center for all banks in the city.
In response, the Anti-Fraud Center staff stated that while banks are expected to conduct due diligence based on the current anti-fraud situation and regulatory requirements, there is no fixed standard regarding withdrawal amounts.