Sending money from Europe to China: what you need to know
Cross-border transfers from Europe to China are served by major money transfer operators and a handful of licensed banks. Compare the providers above on the metric that matters most to you — total recipient amount, fee, or speed.
How recipients in China receive funds
Most providers offer multiple ways for your recipient in China to receive funds:
- Bank account deposit — usually 1–3 business days, the most universal option
- Cash pickup at retail agents — minutes to hours, useful when the recipient doesn't have a bank account
- Mobile wallet — instant in countries with established e-wallets (e.g. M-Pesa in Kenya, GCash in Philippines)
Check with your provider for the specific delivery options they support in China. Some providers don't operate in every region or only support bank transfers.
Which EUR → CNY provider is best for you?
There is no single 'best' provider — the right choice depends on whether you prioritise the recipient amount, the fee, the speed, or the institution type.
- If you want the most for your money: Paysend delivered the highest recipient amount in our most recent live snapshot.
- If you want zero fees: Instarem charges no upfront fee — just check the exchange rate margin in the table to see what you actually receive.
- If you need the money to arrive in minutes: Remitly typically clears in minutes.
- If you'd rather use a bank: Rabobank is one of the licensed bank options in this corridor — slower (typically 1–3 days) and usually more expensive than money-transfer operators, but some senders prefer the familiarity.
Recommendations refresh with the live data above. The provider that wins today may not win tomorrow — always check the live table immediately before sending.
The hidden cost: rate margin vs upfront fee
In the EUR to CNY corridor right now, 8 providers are competing for your transfer — and the gap between the best and worst deal is ¥326 on a €1,000 send. Paysend delivers ¥7,428 while LaCaixa delivers only ¥7,102. That difference comes almost entirely from rate margin, not the headline fee.
The mid-market rate — the one banks use among themselves — is currently 1 EUR = 7.4678 CNY. At that rate, €1,000 would convert to exactly ¥7,468. Paysend's rate of 7.4499 means a margin of roughly 0.24%, while LaCaixa's rate of 7.2987 embeds a 2.26% margin. Even small-sounding percentages add up: on a €5,000 transfer, that worst-case margin costs you ¥1,630 compared to the best option.
Here is an insight specific to this corridor: the provider with the lowest upfront fee (Instarem at EUR 0.00) is not the same as the provider that delivers the most CNY (Paysend). That is because Instarem recovers its cost through the exchange rate. This is exactly why fee-only comparisons mislead — the "Recipient gets" column in the table above is the only number that captures both the fee and the rate margin in a single figure.