Banking in Beijing

[ironbadger]

I've just moved to Beijing to study Mandarin for a few years - I'd like to set up an account with one of the bank's in Beijing - does anyone have any recommendations as to a branch? - is it relativly simple for a foreigner to set up an account ? - any advice would be much appreciated cheers!

[roddy]

The Industrial and Commercial Bank generally gets good reviews. There's a branch inside BLCU, which has loads more experience of dealing with foreigners than any other bank in Beijing, except maybe ones in the CBD.

Opening a basic account is pretty easy - id is all you need I think. I asked about an international credit card account once though, and they basically wanted my first born son as security. As I don't yet have a first born son . . .

Roddy

[Jizzosh]

I need to bump this topic back up..

Do I need to get a more international card in order to perform withdrawls or transactions when I arrive in Beijing? What are the institutions that are resonsible for the ATM system? (interlink, co-op network, plus, star, etc). Or is it possible to setup an account with a bank in Beijing before I arrive so that I can have my money in the bank when I get there?

If I do use a more international bank, like Citibank, etc. Which do you recommend? I'm hoping to minimize my atm fees and banking costs, so branches that are close to BLCU, or easy to access by bus or subway would be ideal.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone!