Update: 'Underground' banks transfer $32bn out of Chinese province

At least ¥207bn ($32bn) was channelled out of Guangdong in 2015 in 83 cases of  illegal money transfers, seven times more than the previous year, and authorities believe more may have gone undiscovered. Experts agree and have warned that this is just the "tip of the iceberg". The depreciation of the yuan, particularly in tandem with China's slowing economy, is creating a strong demand for foreign currency and Guangdong is a "national hotspot" for underground banks with its close proximity to Hong Kong and Macau. According to Professor Lin Jiang of Sun Yat-sen University, the situation should have improved, not worsened in recent years, due to a relaxation of controls providing more legitimate channels for exchanging foreign currency. 

Some 700 million yuan had been transferred by suspects acquiring foreign currency cheques from overseas businesses on the mainland. File Photo