Foreigners Opening Bank of China Account

Bank of China has a make shift counter during the Canton Fair (cantonfair.org.cn/en-US) held twice a year – in Spring, April and Autumn, October at Pazhou Exhibition Hall A3,(map below) Guangzhou. Admission to the fair is free for foreigners.  Pre-register at the website. 

Previously, I had walked into  banks  I passed by in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shanghai and  got rejected, also all need resident permit for opening new account.  It was only at the Canton Fair in 2025 that I was able to open one. When getting a queue ticket, you will be asked purpose for opening an account.  You will need to produce your original passport, (local number which I subscribed in Shenzhen with Unicom, paying about CNY33 a month with 20GB data, calls and text at CNY 0.10), your local address and home address, (possible to use hotel address). Fill in the form (done by the staff  if you are not able to).  The debit card is issued on the spot, key in your pin number.  Activate and deposit money at the ATM machine  nearby. There is no minimum sum.  

Though service for foreigners is limited to debit card, which is free, it is good enough for me to link to my Alipay and Weixin accounts. Both charge 3% commission on payments of more than CNY200 if overseas cards are linked, refunds will take awhile and also there will be a difference in the exchange rate, losing a few cents on each refund. Refund is immediate and no exchange risk on local card.

The inconvenience is you have to check balances and statements at the bank’s ATM machines. To have a printed copy,  I need to get a ticket and queue, produce passport. It may take a few days or same day depending on which city you request. It took me about 10 minutes just to print a month statement.