first time I sent money to my wife's BoC account, we had trouble. As I use the bank that handles most foreign transactions, this was a little confusing to me. We set it up to transfer in $dollars. The money hit China the next day, but my wife went a while without knowing why she didn't have the money. I spent about a week on the phone with my bank. It finally went over to the "nasty boys department" where they got in contact with BoC directly.
Apparently, with all of the banks in China, if you are not on them like flies on 'stink', they will hold the money (just like any bank, gaining interest for them is gaining money). Until they have what they consider 'proper' authorization.
My bank got on the phone with their main office, got 'nasty' and the money was available to my wife that day. However, if you're bank allows you to send it in RMB, do so. Otherwise, your wife/lady will have to pay a 'conversion fee' for any moneys converted. The larger banks do permit tranfers of money in foreign currency and you will pay a smaller fee than your wife, typically. Why? b/c your bank has your money and they are in the know about your financial matters and are not looking beyond their normal greed. The Chinese banks are still trying to 'grow' with their economy. When the China bubble bursts (their inflated housing market), the banks still standing will adjust to the systems used by other international banks of balancing greed with stability.
Lloyd
