Opening a savings account in China

[Impulse]

Im wondering if you can transfer baht into the chinese currency,or the dollar for that matter. Is it out of the question for a foreigner to open an account there? I know its called the rimba and yaun.Maybe Hong Kong is easier than mainland? Im thinking that when China floats its currency it will rise maybe four or five fold against the U.S dollar and some other currencies.Id rather have something that will hold its value and possibly rise a great deal,then at a later date trade it back into baht or dollar. It was easy enough opening an account here in Pattaya,but then everything is easier here. :idea: Rocket

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I know its called the rimba.

Oh, dear.

You don't actually have to open an account in China to speculate on the renminbi.

You can open a forex trading account online at oanda.com, and buy and sell CNY as you please -- on margin, if desired. There will be a healthy spread, but if you're expecting a "four or five fold" increase in its value, that should trouble you at all.

[Impulse]

OOOps,the renminbi,thanks Boy genious for correcting me. Ill check into oanda.com. I had the understanding that currency trading was similar to option trading,if your timing is off you can lose big time. I dont know when it will occur,the decoupling and how long it will take,but it seems enevitable that the china currency will become the dominate one for quite some time. Im glad I parked some dollars into my Thai account. My coworkers brother worked in Thailand in 97 and his account was cut almost in half from the Asian crisis back then. Diversification can come in handy at times.

I had the understanding that currency trading was similar to option trading,if your timing is off you can lose big time.

It sounds like you need to educate yourself big time before doing anything stupid.

Many people trade forex at 100, or even 200:1 margin.

At that rate, you double your money if the currency goes your way by just 1%. You also lose it all if it goes against you by 1%.

Bottom line is that trading on margin both amplifies your profits, and your potential losses. You can mitigate your risk by using lower margin.

[TrongpaiExpat]

Also, https://www.everbank.com/ for foreign currency accounts.

[Impulse]

Again,Im not trying to trade currencies,just want to convert my dollar into the renmimbe and let it sit there for however long it takes to apreciate against the dollar.Thanks for the advice Chao Na,I know my limitations. And Trongpai expat thanks for the everbank link,Ill give them a call.

[Bob]

Rocket, I was thinking the same thing when I visited China last November (the idea was to open up a bank account,
deposit some funds, and let them sit there and hopefully appreciate); however, never got around to stopping at a bank and my guess is China's policies about that are more strict than Thailand's (and, in Thailand, some of the banks actually follow the law and won't let you open an account with only a tourist visa). Plus, I have no idea about what type of interest rate they'll pay or the tax laws of China. And, technically, you'd have to report (at least in the US) any interest received and ultimately gains if you actually got lucky with appreciation).
As of the last few months, the Chinese economy is having some trouble and I've read some analysts' reports that their economy is heading a bit south following the Olympics. I can see that happening short term (the US is still a huge purchaser from China and that may drop some due to US economic problems and China too is having issues with energy prices) but, long term, the Chinese currency ought to appreciate against almost all other currencies as the Chinese central bank loosens its controls. US economists claim the yuan/rmb is 40-60% undervalued to the US dollar and the Chinese supposedly don't let their currency float because it would suddenly crash so they are allowing 6-8% change per year so it doesn't come as a big jolt to their system (if all of a sudden Chinese goods cost 40% more to US customers, the purchases would be made elsewhere in a hurry). The Chinese central bank sets the rate (e.g., dollars to yuan) and no bank in China is allowed to offer any different amount - so their currency currently is not set by free market trading.

Probably better to play with futures if you have the stomach and to do that on margin if you're 100% sure and/or crazy.

... follow an easy Google link (remember Google?) - http://www.hkbea.com.cn/eng/pb/faq2.html :argue:

In one of my past lives, I worked briefly as a commodity futures broker. The commodity markets are where you buy and sell contracts to deliver a fixed amount of goods at a certain price e.g. September Corn is $5.50 a bushel. These markets have now expanded to trade currency futures.

I got out of that game because every single one of the customers I met lost money, and sometimes they lost BIG. The commissions are big, and you cannot just "buy and hold" unless you want a boxcar of live cattle delivered to your broker!

The alternative (opening a bank account in China) -- well, why not open a bank account in Burma?? You'll have exactly the same protection against arbitrary government actions.

If you think the dollar is bound to go down some more, then you might look at what my Citibank guy is trying to sell me: it's basically a mutual fund based on foreign stocks, carefully groomed and picked by farang money managers. He says it has been performing at 25 percent a year, but freely admits that most of the action is in the decline of the dollar. If the dollar begins to appreciate, results could vary wildly -- but not as wildly as currency future contracts, or suddenly-nationalized Chinese bank accounts. :-0

it's basically a mutual fund based on foreign stocks, carefully groomed and picked by farang money managers.

Oooooh...farang money managers. None of those bogus Asian, Arab, or black money managers. You know it's got to be good if they've got white boys behind it, eh?