Pay CNY to China

Pay CNY to China enables Global Spend clients with China business to settle foreign income (USD, EUR, GBP, HKD, etc.) into CNY and credit it to a Chinese local bank account or Alipay account. This capability is designed for businesses that need to repatriate overseas revenue to China in compliance with the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) regulations.
Pay CNY to China is a value-add layer capability — it is not included in the base layer and must be explicitly enabled for clients who have China income repatriation needs.

Key Features

  • Multi-currency settlement: Convert from USD, EUR, GBP, HKD, and other supported currencies into CNY.
  • Fast settlement: CNY funds arrive within minutes for eligible transactions.
  • Compliant processing: Built-in regulatory reporting fields ensure compliance with China's foreign exchange control requirements.
  • Flexible credit targets: Credit CNY to a Chinese local bank account (same-name verification required) or Alipay personal/enterprise account.

How it Works

Step 1: Enable Pay CNY to China

Contact your WorldFirst account manager or Merchant Service team to enable Pay CNY to China for your World Account. This is subject to compliance review and eligibility assessment.

Step 2: Submit trade materials

Before initiating a settlement, you must submit underlying trade materials to support the foreign exchange declaration. Required materials include:
Trade materials can be submitted via:
  • API: Use the Trade Order Management API to submit materials programmatically.
  • SFTP: Upload batch trade data files for large-volume settlements.

Step 3: Initiate the settlement

Once trade materials are approved, initiate the CNY settlement:
  1. Check your available settlement quota in your World Account.
  2. Submit a settlement request specifying the source currency, amount, and target bank account or Alipay account.
  3. WorldFirst locks the FX rate at the time of approval.
  4. CNY funds are credited to the designated Chinese account within minutes.

Step 4: Track and reconcile

  • Receive Webhook notifications on settlement status.
  • Query settlement details via the Statement API.
  • Download transaction reports in CSV or PDF format for reconciliation.

Business Rules

Eligibility

Pay CNY to China is subject to the Eligibility Rule Engine. The following dimensions are evaluated:
When eligibility evaluation rejects a request, a
NOT_ELIGIBLE
error is returned with the specific reason.

Connect Alipay CN Account

For clients who need to settle to customers' Alipay CN wallets, a connection with the customer's Alipay CN account must be established before the transfer can be made. This is handled through the Connect API integration flow.

China Inbound — Customer Onboarding

For clients wanting to settle to Chinese customers' bank accounts without routing through a World Account, clients need to onboard their customers to a Chinese PSP to meet regulatory requirements. KYC/KYB data must be provided to the PSP, and the PSP must onboard the customer before providing the payment service into China.
API references: