Money Mover Country Report - China
Posted on the 10th March 2017 by Dorianne Sager in Country Reports
Introduction
5,000 years of continuous civilization gives a country certain bragging rights. Ancient Chinese inventions, philosophies and discoveries have shaped the world as we know it: the abacus, the compass, gun powder, silk, paper, porcelain, alcohol, paper money, Confucius… the influence of Chinese culture on modern society is incalculable.
With over 1.381 billion people, China is the world’s most populous nation and controls the world’s largest armed force, The People’s Liberation Army. Since 1921, China has been ruled by the Communist Party of China (CPC) and maintains strict controls over the Chinese people, limiting freedoms and rights, and until recently, how many children a couple could legally bear. The country instituted major economic reforms in 1978 and shifted to a market based economy while retaining Communist leadership. Since then, China has experienced rapid economic and social development. According to the World Bank, GDP growth has averaged nearly 10 percent a year—the fastest sustained expansion by a major economy in history—and has lifted more than 800 million people out of poverty. China has a rapidly emerging middle class, eclipsing consumer spending in other countries, and is poised to take over the US as the world’s largest economy.
From ancient civilization to emerging superpower, one thing is clear, China’s influence on the world isn’t over yet.
Trade and Industry
While much of China’s population is still in poverty, the country is rapidly heading towards global economic domination. China leads the world in exports and comes in second behind the US in imports. Since becoming a member of the World Trade Organization in 2001, China has become more deeply integrated into the world economy and has become an important bilateral trade partner for a number of countries.
A New York Times article recently reported that China is headed towards its next stage of economic development. The government recently unvieled a $300 billion plan to become nearly self-sufficient by 2025 in a range of important industries, from planes to computer chips to electric cars.
Exports
China’s main exports are electronic equipment and machinery, data processing equipment, apparel, radio telephone handsets, textiles and integrated circuits
While China is the largest import/export partner for a growing number of countries, its primary export partners are the US, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Germany.
Imports
China primarily imports commodities such as electrical equipment and machinery, oil and mineral fuels, optical and medical equipment, metal ores and motor vehicles.
China’s main import partners are Japan, South Korea, US, Germany and Australia.
Currency Overview
China’s first currency was the Cowry shell and dates back 3000 years ago. Sometime around 210 BC, a uniform copper coin was introduced. Paper money was invented in China in the 9th century to avoid the heavy bulk of coins in large transactions between merchants and wholesalers. The yuan, introduced in the 19th century, is the basic unit of the official currency, the renminbi. Similar to how people use the terms pounds and sterling, yuan is often used to refer to the Chinese currency, especially internationally. Currently, the renminbi is the legal tender in mainland China only. Hong Kong and Macau use the Hong Kong dollar and the Macanese pataca.
In October of 2016, the yuan joined the International Monetary Fund’s reserve currency basket alongside the dollar, euro, yen and pound, paving the way for increased global use.
The CNY is the world’s 8th most traded currency by value. The most popular currency pair is USD to CNY.
Making payments
China is a low risk country and considered stable, both politically and economically. There are no known issues with making payments to China.
Types of payments
All payments are sent via SWIFT and although we can send all supported currencies to China, the majority of Money Mover customers send USD. Note that at the moment we don’t support Chinese Yuan Renminbi (CNY).
Payment information
We can dispatch funds within two business days for payments in USD to China as long as we receive funds prior to the cut off time of 16:30 (GMT).
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