What Are the Different Types of Corporate Bank Accounts in China?

RMB Unit Account

Regulators define a unit as entities such as government agencies, teams, troops, enterprises, public institutions, and other organizations, excluding individual businesses and natural persons. A unit account is an account classified by the depositor type.

RMB Unit Settlement Account

The Regulations on the Administration of RMB Bank Settlement Accounts define a bank settlement account as a RMB current‑deposit account used for fund receipt and payment settlement. It is therefore a current (活期) account. Settlement accounts are divided into unit settlement accounts and personal settlement accounts; sole proprietorships are treated as unit accounts.

Unit settlement accounts are further classified into four types:

Basic Deposit Account (基本存款账户) – one per enterprise, used for daily transfer settlement and cash handling, long‑term, cash withdrawable.

General Deposit Account (一般存款账户) – multiple allowed, used for loan‑related transfers and other settlement, long‑term, not cash withdrawable.

Special Deposit Account (专用存款账户) – one per specific proof document, for dedicated fund management, long‑term, withdrawal requires PBOC approval.

Temporary Deposit Account (临时存款户) – limited to one per temporary institution, used for project teams, construction units, etc., validity ≤2 years, withdrawal requires PBOC approval.

Guarantee Account

A guarantee account holds collateral deposits required for activities such as letters of credit, guarantees, and bank acceptance bills. Funds must be transferred from the client’s settlement account. When the guarantee business ends, the guarantee deposit is first transferred back to the settlement account before any payment.

Key characteristics:

Dedicated to guarantee payments; internal transfers only with the client’s other bank accounts.

If interest‑bearing, interest is credited to the corresponding settlement account.

Cannot be used for cash withdrawals or factoring settlement.

Not classified as a settlement account and therefore not reported to the People’s Bank of China.

Bank Internal Account

Internal accounts are used by the bank for internal fund settlement and are not part of customer‑fund accounting. They include core‑system internal accounts and branch‑level internal accounts with external transaction capability. Generally they are not reported to regulators, but are subject to strict internal management rules.

Other Unit Accounts

Regulatory clarifications exclude certain accounts from the RMB Settlement Account Management Measures:

Foreign‑currency deposit accounts – governed by foreign‑exchange regulations, limited to cash deposit/withdrawal, no transfer settlement.

Unit time‑deposit accounts – lack settlement functionality, governed by the RMB Unit Deposit Management Measures.

Internal accounts of non‑bank financial institutions.

Thus, besides the standard unit settlement account, there exist unit time‑deposit accounts, foreign‑currency deposit accounts, and other specialized accounts.

Non‑Account Conventional Names

Banking commonly refers to three primary account categories:

Deposit Account – stores funds, allows deposits and withdrawals at any time; includes checking (current) and time‑deposit (savings) accounts.

Loan Account – records loan disbursement, repayment, and interest; includes personal, corporate, and mortgage loan accounts.

Current Account – used for daily transactions and fund flow, typically for enterprises; usually non‑interest‑bearing and may incur management fees.

Key Points

The discussion is limited to the account system that commercial banks provide to corporate (unit) customers. Accounts managed by the central bank for its subordinate financial institutions are outside the scope of this article.