Concept
The Chinese banking system consists of four categories of banks:
- "Big Four" state-owned commercial banks: ICBC, China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China.
- National joint-stock banks: Everbright, Huaxia, Pudong Development, Pingan and others.
- City commercial banks: Dalian, Harbin, Langfang, Zhejiang Mintai and hundreds of others.
- Policy banks: Export-Import Bank, China Development Bank — these do not open corporate accounts for private companies.
After 2022, compliance standards in Chinese banks tightened significantly, particularly regarding foreign beneficiaries. Not every bank continues to serve HK companies with complex or geopolitically sensitive UBO structures. Below is a map of Chinese banks by how they read a foreign beneficiary today.
Key parameters of the China route — what to check before filing.
| Corporate wrapper | HK company or WFOE; individuals and plain offshore companies are not accepted |
|---|---|
| Regulator and rule | US secondary-sanctions risk — EO 14114, December 2023 |
| Turnover threshold | from $30,000/month (Bank of Dalian) to $1 million/month (SPDB) |
| Opening timeline | 15–45 business days |
| Cost | maintenance $100–150/month, payments 0.08–0.15% |
| RU/BY UBO | by arrangement with a residence permit or second citizenship; refusal at SPDB and Langfang |
| Currencies | CNY primary; USD, EUR, HKD, JPY, SGD depending on the bank |
| Online banking | usually view-only, two hardware tokens, manual review of every payment |
Banks that open accounts for foreign companies
Banks that in practice open corporate accounts for HK companies and WFOEs, by type and typical client profile.
| Bank | Type | Client profile |
|---|---|---|
| 🏛 Bank of China | Big Four | Trading companies from EU/Asia/UAE |
| 💼 ZCCB — Zhejiang Chouzhou Commercial Bank | Regional | Cross-border trading, many profiles |
| 📊 Huaxia Bank | Joint-stock | Financial consulting, asset management |
| 🌊 Bank of Dalian | Regional | CIS trading, northeast corridor |
| ⚡ Everbright Bank | Joint-stock | Trade finance, mid-sized trading companies |
| 🐻 Harbin Bank | Regional | CIS trade, CIS beneficiaries |
| 🏙 Langfang Bank | Regional | Large-scale trading, complex profiles |
| 💎 Pingan Bank | Joint-stock | Advanced online banking, corporate clients |
Banks that are effectively closed (and why)
Below are banks where account opening is difficult or impossible in the current configuration. Each is profiled in the section further down this page, with working alternatives.
| Bank | Type | Why the channel is closed |
|---|---|---|
| 🏦 ICBC | Big Four | Completely stopped opening accounts for HK companies with sanctions-sensitive UBOs in October 2022; for other profiles requires physical presence of director |
| 🏛 China Construction Bank (CCB) | Big Four | Blocks at compliance review stage without stating reason; unstable channel |
| 🌾 Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) | Big Four | Historical focus on agricultural sector + sanctions-sensitive markets — after 2022 moved to closed client list |
| 🏢 Pudong Development Bank (SPDB) | Joint-stock | Strict requirements for local director; sub-accounts only for transaction volume > $1M/month |
| 🌉 Zhejiang Mintai Commercial Bank | Regional | Small assets, limited correspondent network; recommended only for niche projects |
Current status and working alternatives for each of these banks are set out in the profiles below.
Bank profiles: niches, regimes and timelines
Compressed profiles of the banks from the map above. Banks with a live Russia corridor — Harbin and CZCB — keep their own full pages, as do Langfang (RU/BY UBOs — unconditional refusal) and Bank of China for the Big Four.
Everbright Bank — trade finance for the mid-market
China Everbright Bank is a national joint-stock lender: Beijing, founded 1992, listed in Shanghai and Hong Kong, with CNY 7.17 trillion (~$1T) in assets and 1,330 branches and outlets as at 31 December 2025 per its annual report. The trade-finance desk is the draw: letters of credit, guarantees, documentary collections, factoring and forfaiting with a direct Sinosure channel that lowers the factoring discount, plus direct CIPS participation. Best fit — trading companies with contracts of $50K–$10M and regular CNY settlements with mainland suppliers; currencies CNY, USD, EUR, HKD, JPY, others on request.
Russian-linked UBOs are considered case by case: residence permit or second citizenship outside sanctioned jurisdictions, non-sanctioned counterparties, goods outside dual-use lists. Alternatives on refusal: Harbin, CZCB, Dalian.
Timeline and indicative bank fees — clean and complicated profiles:
| Timeline, clean KYC | 15–25 business days |
|---|---|
| Dual-use, complex UBO | up to 30–35 business days |
| Maintenance | $120–150/month |
| Domestic payments | 0.08–0.1% |
| International payments | 0.1% |
| Letters of credit | from 0.3% |
| Guarantees | from 0.5%/year |
| Sinosure-backed factoring | from a 4–6% discount |
Not for: Russians without a second residence, $100M+ turnover (Bank of China), capital parking without operating flow, crypto, gambling, adult, shell companies.
Huaxia Bank — financial consulting and asset management
Huaxia Bank (Beijing, listed 600015 in Shanghai, ~$600bn in assets, 950+ outlets; roughly 40% of income from the corporate segment) leans toward advisory and capital-markets profiles: financial and investment consulting, asset management, family offices, IT/SaaS with a Chinese segment. Every application goes through an individual compliance review; direct CIPS participant; currencies CNY, USD, EUR, HKD, SGD. Weak niche for pure trading and e-commerce — Everbright or Bank of China fit better.
Russian/Belarusian UBOs — by arrangement with a foreign residence permit and a consulting/investment business model rather than pure RF trade; particularly favourable to UBOs with a venture or investment background. Alternatives: Harbin, Dalian.
Timeline and indicative bank fees:
| Standard consulting | 15–20 business days |
|---|---|
| Asset-management structures | up to 35 business days |
| Maintenance | $100–150/month |
| Domestic payments | 0.08–0.1% |
| International payments | 0.1–0.15% |
| Asset management | from 0.5%/year of AUM |
| Custody | from 0.15%/year |
Not for: pure trading and e-commerce, RU/BY without residence, large capital storage, crypto, gambling, shells.
Ping An Bank — technology and supply chain finance
Ping An Bank (Shenzhen, part of Ping An Insurance Group; bank assets ~CNY 5.9 trillion (~$820bn), 1,000+ branches, licensed Hong Kong branch) is the most tech-enabled mainland channel: corporate REST API for payments, statements, FX and balance reporting, real-time treasury, and scenario-based supply chain finance with blockchain forfaiting and AI counterparty scoring — named Best Trade Finance Bank in China 2025 by The Asian Banker. Direct CIPS participant; currencies CNY, USD, EUR, GBP, HKD, JPY, SGD, others on request. The technology came from the group's fintech arm OneConnect; Ping An Group bought it out in full in November 2025 and took it off NYSE and HKEX, so blockchain forfaiting, AI scoring and real-time treasury now sit inside the group.
Russia/Belarus/Kazakhstan-linked UBOs — account opening is by arrangement with an EU/UK/UAE/Singapore residence permit, non-sanctioned counterparties and a clear business purpose (tech project, supply chain finance, fintech operations — not a "universal account"). Accepting direct payments from Russian banks is a separate question: Ping An wound that flow down over 2024–2025 and the status moves in both directions — check it on the date of the transaction. Alternatives: Harbin, Dalian.
Timeline and indicative bank fees:
| Timeline, clean KYC | 15–25 business days |
|---|---|
| API onboarding | adds 5–7 days with the bank's tech team |
| Maintenance | $120/month |
| Domestic payments | 0.08%, cap CNY 800 |
| International payments | 0.1% |
| Trade finance | from 0.3% |
| Sinosure-channel factoring | from a 4–6% discount |
Not for: RU/BY without residence, retail flows without a China leg (Wise/Airwallex are cheaper), capital storage, crypto, gambling/adult, heavy metals without a licence, shells.
Bank of Dalian — Liaoning and the northeast corridor
Bank of Dalian is an urban commercial bank in Liaoning: RMB 520bn in assets per its 2024 report at a 2.88% NPL ratio and 11.35% capital adequacy — asset quality visibly weaker than at the Big Four; SWIFT DLCBCNBD, controlled by China Orient Asset Management together with the Dalian municipal finance bureau. The niche is trade with a provable link to Dalian, Liaoning and northeast China: port shipments, purchases from regional producers, settlements across the northeast. Currencies: CNY primary, USD/EUR by purpose, RUB only after a separate route check. Comfortable minimum turnover — around $30K/month.
Russia-linked applications are never automatic: since EO 14114 (December 2023) and the Gazprombank designations (November 2024), every RU element — owner, remitting bank, end-buyer — goes through a sanctions review before filing; "try-your-luck" applications end in refusal or returned payments.
Timeline and indicative bank fees:
| Timeline, clean profile | 15–25 business days |
|---|---|
| Maintenance | $100/month |
| Domestic payments | 0.1% |
| International payments | 0.1–0.15% |
| RUB legs | 0.3–0.5% |
| LC and guarantees | from 0.4% |
Not for: sanctioned parties anywhere in the chain (unconditional refusal), crypto and gambling, shells, large capital storage (deposit insurance CNY 500K), $50M+ institutional turnover.
SPDB — a hard channel for large operators
Shanghai Pudong Development Bank (Pudong, top-10 mainland lender with ~CNY 10 trillion in assets, direct CIPS participant, Shanghai FTZ/FTN heritage) is a hard channel for a foreign company: a mainland-resident director is mandatory (a nominee adds a recurring annual cost to the structure, with no published benchmark for it), currency sub-accounts open only above $1M/month in confirmed turnover, a personal visit to Shanghai is expected, and manual compliance takes 30–45 business days. Outside a narrow Shanghai scenario the channel does not pay for itself.
Where it is rational: subsidiaries of Chinese groups, WFOEs with real Shanghai presence, $1M+/month settlement volumes, syndicated lending and treasury cases, Shanghai FTZ residents. RU/BY — effective refusal since 2022. Similar joint-stock functionality without the local-director requirement — Everbright or Ping An; universal banking — Bank of China; mid-sized CIS trade — Dalian, Harbin.
Zhejiang Mintai — niche Zhejiang
Zhejiang Mintai Commercial Bank (Taizhou; ~CNY 237bn in assets; around 12 branches and 159 outlets across Zhejiang) is built around the Taizhou/Wenling private SME economy. The international franchise is thin: CIPS only via correspondents, SWIFT through nostro accounts with 2–4 day lags; CNY primary, USD on request, EUR limited. Since 2024 it has been an exceptional channel justified only by a genuine Taizhou nexus, for example as a reserve account for an existing ZCCB client.
Timeline — 20–30 business days, an in-person visit to Taizhou is usually required. RU-UBO applications are typically declined at pre-screening — the regional compliance team has no capacity for enhanced due diligence. Predictable alternatives: ZCCB (same Zhejiang, larger), Harbin and Dalian for CIS links, Everbright and Ping An for mid-market trade, Bank of China for large turnover.
Risks and unresolved facts
- The "by arrangement" RU-UBO regimes (Everbright, Huaxia, Ping An, Dalian) are observed intake practice, not published policy: none of these banks publishes the criteria.
- Ping An wound down direct payments from Russian banks over 2024–2025, but published no official statement: the status is verifiable only with the bank on the date of the transaction.
- Bank of Dalian figures (RMB 520bn assets, 2.88% NPL, 11.35% capital adequacy) come from its 2024 report; anything more recent is checked against the bank's own annual report.
- The 15–45 business-day opening timelines are practical estimates: none of these banks publishes an onboarding SLA for foreign companies.
- The cost of a nominee mainland-resident director for SPDB is a market figure with no public source: providers quote it only on request, and there is no single benchmark.
Documents required by all Chinese banks
Any Chinese bank opening a corporate account for an HK company will require the same basic set:
- Beneficiary passport (all pages)
- Proof of residential address (not older than 3 months)
- Source of funds description — 1–2 pages, verifiable facts
- Complete HK company corporate kit (Certificate of Incorporation, Business Registration, Articles of Association, Annual Return / NAR1, audited statements if available)
- Business model description — 1.5 pages, client types, currencies, 12-month turnover forecast
What all Chinese banks have in common
- Hardware tokens — two transaction confirmation devices, sent by courier to any country
- Online banking — usually view-only + electronic upload of documents, not for real-time operations
- Compliance review of each transaction — every payment undergoes manual review, notify the bank in advance about large transactions
- Opening timeframe — 15–25 business days with clean KYC; up to 45 days with enhanced due diligence
- Minimum monthly turnover — most banks require ~$50K/month for active account servicing
Q/A
I have a BVI company and a personal passport — is that enough to open a Chinese corporate account?
No. Every bank on this map opens the account for a Hong Kong company or a WFOE and nothing else — a corporate account for an individual or a plain offshore company is not available. If that wrapper does not exist yet, the Hong Kong company comes first and the bank application second.
My beneficiary holds a Russian passport — does that close the door?
Not by itself. Most banks here will still consider an HK company whose beneficiary holds a residence permit or second citizenship in a non-sanctioned country; Langfang declines RU and BY beneficiaries regardless of residence. Since Executive Order 14114 of 22 December 2023, every Russian element — owner, remitting bank, end buyer — is screened before filing.
The Big Four are the largest — should I simply start with ICBC?
No. ICBC stopped opening accounts for HK companies with sanctions-sensitive UBOs in October 2022 and otherwise wants the director present; CCB blocks at compliance review without giving reasons; ABC has moved to a closed client list. Of the Big Four only Bank of China is a working channel for a foreign trading company.
Will I be able to run payments in real time from the app?
No. Online banking at these banks is usually view-only with document upload, payments are confirmed on two hardware tokens couriered to you, and every transaction goes through a manual compliance review. Large transfers should be flagged to the bank in advance rather than simply sent.
Can the account be opened without anyone travelling to China?
For most banks on this map, usually yes — filing runs through a licensed local agent. The hard channels are the exception: SPDB expects a visit to Shanghai and a mainland-resident director, Zhejiang Mintai a visit to Taizhou, ICBC the director in person. Reckon on 15–25 business days with clean KYC, up to 45 with enhanced due diligence.