> Why should you set this complex scheme up when you could simply fly to UK to visit your artist friend, buy one of his artwork with your yuan and you're done?

> Or better yet, invite your UK friend to China and give him the money, that he can then deposit on his account.

China has capital controls and dual currencies to prevent these common scenarios. The yuan that the Chinese resident can get from a Chinese bank is devalued outside of China, and it is forbidden to move large quantities anyway (much less than the 1M USD mentioned in the thread).

https://statrys.com/blog/cnh-vs-cny-differences-chinese-renm...