Agricultural Bank of China

Universal bank · Beijing, China

Agricultural Bank of China is the second-largest bank in the world by assets and one of China's big four state-controlled banks. It has nearly 24,000 domestic branches, 320 million retail customers and 2.7 million corporate clients, with a mandate that includes rural and county banking. Abroad it runs 13 branches in cities including Hong Kong, London, Tokyo, New York, Frankfurt, Sydney, Seoul and Singapore, serving corporates rather than local SMEs. Crypto business is illegal in mainland China. In October 2025 the bank disclosed a 27.2 million yuan regulatory fine.

Legal name: Agricultural Bank of China Limited
Regulated by: National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA), People's Bank of China, HKMA (Hong Kong branch), PRA/FCA (London branch), Federal Reserve (New York branch)
Licence confirmed: yes, on a regulator's own list
Established: 1951
Website: www.abchina.com

Scores, 0 to 10

9.0Financial strength & stability

G-SIB with CAR 17.93 percent and A/A1/A ratings. · source

7.0Trade, manufacturing & import-export

Letters of credit and RMB trade settlement through 13 overseas branches and correspondent banks. · source

6.0Cross-border payments, FX and multi-currency accounts

SWIFT and CIPS access through 13 overseas branches; margins are not published. Domestic cash management scale with 2.7 million corporate clients; overseas pooling limited to 13 branches. · source

5.0Asia-Pacific (SG, HK, AU, JP, KR)

Branches in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Seoul, Singapore and Sydney for corporate clients. · source

5.0Lowest fees

No English-language corporate fee schedule is published; pricing follows Chinese regulated tariffs. · source

4.0Europe (EU, EEA, Switzerland)

Frankfurt branch serves corporates only; no EU SME accounts. · source

4.0United Kingdom

London branch is corporate and wholesale only. · source

4.0United States

New York branch serves corporates and trade only. · source

4.0Best interest on business balances

Corporate deposits pay regulated demand-deposit rates with no treasury sweep product listed. · source

4.0Online businesses: e-commerce and SaaS

Merchant collection services inside China; no cross-border collection accounts for foreign merchants. A foreign software company must set up a Chinese entity with separate RMB basic, foreign currency capital and settlement accounts under SAFE rules, and the bank's English corporate pages list no API, Stripe or accounting integrations. · source

4.0Customer satisfaction

No Trustpilot profile with reviews; a 27.2 million yuan fine was disclosed in October 2025. · source

4.0Business cards (Visa, Mastercard)

ABC's English corporate pages describe forex deposit and settlement services but publish no Visa or Mastercard business card programme, no virtual cards and no spend controls. · source

3.5Startups & VC-backed companies

Startups face the same in-person onboarding of four to eight weeks. · source

3.5Foreign-owned & non-resident companies

A foreign-invested enterprise needs a Chinese business licence and the legal representative must be physically present in China for account opening; remote or proxy applications are not accepted and the process takes four to eight weeks. · source

2.5Fast digital onboarding

Four to eight weeks with an in-person visit by the legal representative. · source

2.0Fintech companies that need a partner bank

Notice Yinfa [2026] No. 42, in force since 6 February 2026, bars institutions from opening accounts, moving funds, clearing or settling for virtual-currency business, and the bank publishes no safeguarding programme for payment firms. · source

1.0Crypto-friendly bank

The People's Bank of China restated on 29 November 2025 that virtual currencies and stablecoins are illegal in the country. · source

1.0High-risk verticals (iGaming, cannabis, adult, forex)

Article 303 of China's Criminal Law and the 2005 judicial interpretation make running a gambling house, a gambling website or an online betting agency a crime, and banks may not move funds to gambling sites, so licensed iGaming, casino and similar operators cannot be banked onshore. · source

1.0Crypto wallet and custody for a business

Agricultural Bank of China offers no crypto custody or wallet; the People's Bank of China restated on 29 November 2025 that virtual currency and stablecoin business is illegal in mainland China, checked September 2026. · source

1.0Accept crypto payments

ABC's bank card acquiring service covers RMB and international card transactions on POS terminals for chartered merchants, with no crypto acceptance, checked September 2026. · source

1.0On-ramp: buy crypto with fiat

ABC said in June 2021, after a PBoC summons, that it would screen clients for crypto trading and mining and immediately close the account of any client found trading crypto; mainland law still bars banks from serving crypto transactions. · source

1.0Off-ramp: crypto to fiat in a business account

The same June 2021 policy commits ABC to cut off accounts involved in crypto transactions, so exchange proceeds are not accepted, and the PBoC reaffirmed the ban in November 2025. · source

1.0Bitcoin

ABC offers no bitcoin buying, holding or transfer, which mainland rules prohibit, checked September 2026. · source

1.0Ethereum

ABC offers no ether or token service, which mainland rules prohibit, checked September 2026. · source

1.0Stablecoins (USDC, USDT and others)

The PBoC said in November 2025 that stablecoins are illegal in mainland China, and ABC offers no stablecoin service; its digital currency work concerns the central bank's e-CNY, which is not a stablecoin. · source

Sources

Built on public information and the BankStore team's own aggregated experience; no confidential client or partner data. Bank Index and BankStore are not banks. This is information, not financial advice.