EXCLUSIVE | Chinese nationals living abroad are growing concerned about long delays to access funds held in Chinese banks.

“Prior to 2020 and the pandemic, it was not a challenge to withdraw money, now we are told to wait for days because of unknown delays and the branches have no staff, so there are long lines from early in the morning,” said one Chinese national living in Australia on the Chinese social media network, WeChat.

Contacted by Asia Markets, the student revealed she had been unable to withdraw or transfer any cash to the local currency so far in 2023, and has been forced to rely on digital payments.

“Officially we have been told of no changes, but everyone is experiencing trouble [with Chinese banks] recently.”

Asia Markets was supplied an image of a long queue of customers at a Bank of China branch on Wednesday March 1 at around 7.30am local time in Melbourne, Australia, supporting the claims.

The tightening grip on foreign retail customer withdrawals from Chinese bank accounts comes amid increased pressure by the CCP on financial institutions to limit foreign capital flight.

In the final quarter of 2022, China recorded net capital outflows of US$16.75 billion, according to data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

The Administration’s data shows that almost immediately, as the COVID-19 pandemic caused panic in 2020, the country went from net capital outflows to inflows. The October to December 2022 period was the first quarter of net capital outflows reported in China in two years.

CCP pressure mounts to restrict capital flight

While there has been no offical recent policy moves to restrict Chinese nationals withdrawing funds in foreign countries from retail accounts, the CCP has publicly announced moves to impede mai