How to buy Chinese Yuan?

donshale

Can anyone tell me a bank that will let me open an account in Chinese Yuan or how I can hold cash in Yuan?

purch

The Renminbi (Yuan) is subject to strict exchange controls, in order to maintain it's peg to other currencies.

I believe there is a limit on how much you can buy, less than $1,000 per transaction.

Kohoutek

donshale wrote: »

Can anyone tell me a bank that will let me open an account in Chinese Yuan or how I can hold cash in Yuan?

There's no retail bank outside China that will allow foreigners to hold Chinese currency. You can still buy physical cash, from any decent bureaux de change.

For investment, the best option is perhaps the WisdomTree Dreyfus Chinese Yuan Fund (NYSE:CYB), an ETF that is short US dollar/long chinese yuan. When the yuan appreciates against the dollar, your investment will increase in value. Obviously you carry fx risk from the value of the dollar relative to the pound too.

tradetime

It's possible to gain exposure through a currency ETN run by Van Eck Global and Morgan Stanley if you are prepared to accept the counterparty risk with such products.

funnelm

If you are travelling to China, its relatively easy to open a bank account there as a foreigner. I did this earlier this year whilst visiting for a few weeks. All you need is your passport, complete a few forms and you'll receive an account plus ATM / Debit card.

When paying cash in, you have the choice of converting it to RMB or keeping it in the payment currency.

cepheus

If you are merely trying to benefit from the currencies relative strength, would opening a Chinese fund/bond effectively acheive the same object with interest?