When in Rome, do as the Romans do. When you stay in the city, you should have enough yuan -- China's official currency -- to maintain your daily expenses, rent, food, clothes and incidentals. Some people will say US dollars are accepted in some places here. It won't be convenient for you to live your life depending on US dollars. You'll constantly be looking for somewhere to exchange your dollars for yuan. Except some hotels, resorts or places only for foreigners, you cannot use US dollars or other foreign currencies directly in the city.
You can exchange the currency over the counter at some banks in the city. Of course, you can use your credit cards in most of the Shanghai shops, but groceries (bought in grocery stores), rents or other bills will be collected in cash.
As a financial center in China, or even Asia, Shanghai has a lot of banks and financial companies, both domestic and overseas, which may offer you a series of financial services. Their branches are available all around the city.
Retail branches and ATMs
Branches, sub-branches and ATMs are everywhere in the city, especially in downtown. You will easily find a dozen in the area where you live. If you use bank cards, you can deposit or get cash in yuan everywhere and any time in the city. Some will charge fees for the services.
You can get the address of the specific branches or ATMs of your favorite banks from their official Websites, Google local guidance or just by dialing the customer service hotline.
Money transfer
To transfer money gained here to your home country is a technical job. You should seek help from law firms or accounting firms. First of all, you should obey Chinese laws. In some conditions, a foreigner needs to pay tax and some service charges. It¡¯s better for you to make a plan with help from a lawyer or accountant on your money transfer project.
Contact details of the Shanghai Branch of the administration:
Address: No.181, Lujiazui Road E., Shanghai, 200120
Contact numbers:
General Affairs Department: 86-21-5884 5950
Balance of Payments Department: 86-21-5884 5000 Ext 5975
Current Account Management Department: 86-21-5884 5000 Ext 5663
Capital Account Management Department: 86-21-5884 5000 Ext 5958
Supervision and Inspection Department: 86-21-5884 5000 Ext 5969
About Tax
Under some circumstances, foreigners in the city must pay taxes. Income tax is probably the most important and also the most unavoidable.
Basically, China's individual income tax is famous for its complication and rooms for different interpretation. Sometimes, even overseas tax consultants feel puzzled when they deal businesses relate to China for clients.
If you worked in a local company (domestic or foreign invested) or the local office of a foreign company, you may have your income tax handled by your company, otherwise, you'd better ask for help from experts, such as consultants from accounting firms (local or international) or officials who work for local taxation, finance administrations. Normally, you won't have a direct contact with local tax officials, unless you do business for your own.
Individual income tax in China charged mainly every month with different rates from 5 percent to 45 percent of the total income with threshold amount --4,000 yuan (US$500) for foreigners -- deducted. Generally, people gain more will be charged more. If your salary is higher than 100,000 yuan a month, you should pay almost half your income to Chinese government.
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