Generally speaking, there are two types of banks in China. Firstly, the state-owned commercial bank such as
the Bank of China (BOC), the China Construction Bank (CCB), the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), and the
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) etc. City commercial banks are founded on the basis of urban
credit cooperatives. Secondly, there are increasing numbers of foreign banks open branches in China nowadays,
namely, the HSBC, Citibank and Standard Chartered Bank are most common ones.
Opening a bank account in China—especially a Chinese Yuan-only account—is a very straightforward process.
Banks like the Bank of China, China Construction Bank and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China have
branches all over the country. Just go to the bank you’d like to get an account with and present your valid passport
and fill out an application form. The entire process takes about 30 minutes.