Browse banks, EMIs, PSPs and other organizations in China that hold a SWIFT/BIC code. See correspondent banking data and review the country's payment requirements.
The currency of China is the Chinese yuan, or renminbi (CNY), a managed and only partially convertible currency. Current-account transactions such as trade in goods and services are freely convertible against supporting documents, following China's acceptance of IMF Article VIII in December 1996, but the capital account remains tightly controlled and most capital movements need approval or registration with the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE). The yuan trades within a daily band of about plus or minus 2 percent around a reference rate set by the People's Bank of China (PBOC), and the offshore yuan (CNH), traded in Hong Kong and other centres, can move separately from the onshore rate (CNY), though CNY is the code used for settlement. China does not use IBAN: domestic transfers are routed with a 12-digit CNAPS code, which works like a national routing or sort code, while international payments use the beneficiary bank's SWIFT BIC and the beneficiary's account number. China is not part of SEPA, which is a euro-area scheme.
Domestic clearing runs over CNAPS (the China National Advanced Payment System), which combines a real-time gross settlement system for large-value payments with a batch system for bulk retail payments. Cross-border yuan payments clear through CIPS (the Cross-Border Interbank Payment System), which handles RMB settlement and works alongside, not instead of, SWIFT: SWIFT typically carries the messaging while CIPS or the correspondent network settles the funds, and both are moving to ISO 20022. Inbound cross-border payments arrive by SWIFT and then settle over these rails. To credit a beneficiary an instruction typically needs:
Cross-border yuan payments carry documentation rules that foreign-currency payments do not. A beneficiary must be pre-registered by its bank in the PBOC's RCPMIS reporting system before it can receive cross-border CNY, and the beneficiary name on the payment must match that registration exactly. A purpose-of-payment code is mandatory in field 72 for cross-border yuan, and an instruction that omits it is commonly rejected without notice. Because the yuan is a restricted currency, an inbound CNY payment with missing or mismatched information is more likely to be returned than repaired. Using a beneficiary's initials instead of the full registered name, or leaving out the CNAPS code on a domestic leg, is a common cause of delay.
Capital controls shape how money moves. Individuals may convert up to the equivalent of about USD 50,000 a year at bank counters against valid identification, and larger or capital-account transfers need SAFE approval with supporting contracts, invoices and tax documents. From 1 January 2026, outbound remittances above roughly RMB 5,000 or USD 1,000 face enhanced identity verification, and banks must keep transaction records for ten years rather than five. Foreign-currency payments into China settle through the beneficiary bank's correspondents, while offshore yuan clears in centres such as Hong Kong, Singapore and London through PBOC-designated clearing banks, separate from the onshore market. The routing and documentation choice, not access to the country, is usually what drives cost, cut-off times and the risk of a payment being returned.
On compliance, China is a full FATF member (since 2007, and it is also assessed alongside the APG and EAG regional bodies) and sits on neither the FATF grey nor black list, a status confirmed at the June 2026 plenary; its fourth-round mutual evaluation was adopted in 2019 and it remains in enhanced follow-up. China is a participating CRS jurisdiction, with financial-account due diligence and reporting from July 2017 and first automatic exchanges in 2018, though it has no FATCA agreement in force with the United States. Anti-money-laundering supervision sits with the PBOC and the financial intelligence unit, CAMLMAC, and a revised Anti-Money Laundering Law took effect on 1 January 2025, extending duties to more sectors. On sanctions, China maintains its own instruments, including the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law, an Unreliable Entity List and blocking rules, and implements UN Security Council measures; the blocking rules can put a firm that complies with foreign sanctions in conflict with Chinese law, and a number of Chinese entities are subject to US or EU designations, so screen counterparties before you settle.
Cryptocurrency is banned in mainland China. Trading, mining and the use of crypto as a means of payment are prohibited, there is no licensing regime for crypto platforms, and banks may not provide services to crypto-related businesses. In February 2026 the authorities extended the ban to yuan-pegged stablecoins and to most tokenization of real-world assets, barring any entity from issuing a renminbi-linked stablecoin without authorization. Separate from all of this, the state runs the e-CNY (digital yuan), a central bank digital currency issued by the PBOC that became interest-bearing and deposit-insured from January 2026, with cross-border pilots underway. Hong Kong, as a separate jurisdiction, operates its own licensing regime for stablecoins and virtual-asset platforms, so mainland and Hong Kong crypto rules should not be treated as the same.
Banks, EMIs, PSPs and other organizations with an assigned BIC. Click any entry for SWIFT/BIC details, correspondent banking data and supported currencies.
No. China does not use IBAN. Domestic transfers are routed with a 12-digit CNAPS code, which works like a national routing or sort code, while international payments use the beneficiary bank's SWIFT BIC and the beneficiary's account number. Chinese account numbers are numeric and typically 16 to 19 digits, and there is no single standardized account format across banks. For an inbound yuan payment the CNAPS code is normally needed for the domestic clearing leg.
No. China is a full member of the FATF (since 2007) and is also assessed alongside the APG and EAG regional bodies. It is on neither the grey list (jurisdictions under increased monitoring) nor the black list, a status confirmed at the plenary of June 2026. China's fourth-round mutual evaluation was adopted in 2019 and the country remains in enhanced follow-up.
Cross-border payments arrive by SWIFT and then settle domestically. Cross-border yuan clears through CIPS, the RMB settlement system, which works alongside SWIFT rather than replacing it, while domestic legs settle over CNAPS. To route funds you need the beneficiary bank's SWIFT BIC, the beneficiary's account number and full registered name and address, and the CNAPS code for the domestic yuan leg. For cross-border yuan the beneficiary must be pre-registered in the PBOC's RCPMIS system with an exact name match, and a purpose-of-payment code is mandatory; an instruction that omits it is commonly rejected.
Yes. China is a participating jurisdiction under the OECD Common Reporting Standard (CRS). It signed the multilateral competent authority agreement in 2015, financial institutions began due diligence and reporting from July 2017, and the first automatic exchanges took place in 2018. China does not, however, have a FATCA agreement in force with the United States, so US-China financial-account exchange runs differently from CRS.
No, not in mainland China. Trading, mining and the use of cryptocurrency as a means of payment are all prohibited, there is no licensing regime for crypto platforms, and banks may not serve crypto-related businesses. In February 2026 the ban was extended to yuan-pegged stablecoins and to most tokenization of real-world assets. Separately, the state issues the e-CNY (digital yuan), a central bank digital currency that became interest-bearing from January 2026; it is a government project, not a private cryptocurrency. Hong Kong is a separate jurisdiction with its own licensing regime for stablecoins and virtual-asset platforms, so its rules differ from the mainland's.
Yes, within the capital-control framework. Foreign institutions can hold onshore yuan and foreign-currency accounts, typically non-resident accounts opened through a Chinese bank, and current-account payments backed by documentation are freely convertible. Capital-account transfers such as investment and lending need approval or registration with SAFE. Individuals may convert up to the equivalent of about USD 50,000 a year at bank counters, and from 1 January 2026 outbound remittances above roughly RMB 5,000 or USD 1,000 face enhanced identity checks, with banks keeping records for ten years.
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