Getting paid by wechat while living in Europe

[LifeInHK]

Do you have Wechat "wallet" in RMB/CNY currency?
Does your BOCHK account have HK RMB currency that can be tied/linked to China RMB account ?

Does it sound complicated? Yes, because it is. Bank of China Hong Kong can create a new RMB account for you that can be linked to the Wechat RMB wallet. but.... inorder to do this, they want your "Home Return Permit" ( 回鄉正 )
Since you are not in HK, is there anyone in HK that can get these documents to the bank for you ? If you donot have a "Home Return Permit" that is already registered with the BOCHK, then you are most likely stuck.

If you do not have "Home Return Permit" ; then this would not work.

[Gollygordon]

And some people say crypto is useless...

USDC (or USDT if he is Chinese, more likely) is the obvious answer. Immediate, frictionless, trustless.

[Morrison]

And some people say crypto is useless...

USDC (or USDT if he is Chinese, more likely) is the obvious answer. Immediate, frictionless, trustless.

Would not trustless be a bad thing?

I doubt OP has a HRP, and for opening an account in China he would probably need a visa that’s valid for more than 180 days .
Give up !!!

[TheBrit]

USDC (or USDT if he is Chinese, more likely) is the obvious answer. Immediate, frictionless, trustless.

And completely illegal.

[Philips]

Would not trustless be a bad thing?

I doubt OP has a HRP, and for opening an account in China he would probably need a visa that’s valid for more than 180 days .
Give up !!!

I do have a bank account in China, but I haven't used it for 10 years or something, and I believe I have to go to China to make it active again? I am not planning to go to China.

[Philips]

Do you have Wechat "wallet" in RMB/CNY currency?
Does your BOCHK account have HK RMB currency that can be tied/linked to China RMB account ?

Does it sound complicated? Yes, because it is. Bank of China Hong Kong can create a new RMB account for you that can be linked to the Wechat RMB wallet. but.... inorder to do this, they want your "Home Return Permit" ( 回鄉正 )
Since you are not in HK, is there anyone in HK that can get these documents to the bank for you ? If you donot have a "Home Return Permit" that is already registered with the BOCHK, then you are most likely stuck.

If you do not have "Home Return Permit" ; then this would not work.

BOCHK doesn't know I left HK (unless they found out from the government. I certainly didn't tell them).

But I asked BOCHK and they said "BOCHK do not provide Wechat RMB wallet service"

[Philips]

What other way is there to get money from China?

1) Paypal. But the fees are absolutely horrendous. It would cut my (small) margin of profit.
2) Bank transfer: cheaper but takes a very long time.

I just got a new customer this morning. The work isn't much, but the margin of profit is very small, so I can't pay high fees when transferring the money.

[stickyears]

What other way is there to get money from China?

Step 1. Your customer knows someone who knows someone
Step 2. [Stuff you really don't want to know about]
Step 3. HKD cash appears in your HK bank account from a HK ATM

The people love the CCP so much that capital controls exist in case they accidentally send all their money overseas.

[qhank]

2) Bank transfer: cheaper but takes a very long time.

A wire is almost instantaneous. I recently wired some HKD from China to my bank account here and as soon as the funds left the Chinese bank (which took a while because that particular bank doesn't process them right away, had to call a human to push it through) it appeared in my HK account right away.

[Gollygordon]

And completely illegal.

Admittedly, if you are transacting with someone who lives in an authoritarian (shifting rapidly towards totalitarian) regime who explicitly aim to prevent their citizens interacting efficiently with the outside world, you may technically encounter some legal issues. That isn't the fault of the technology, it's the fault of the regime. There is a reason USDT has been explosively popular in China...

Fair point here however that for a business transaction that has tax or accounting implications then it may not be the answer.