Bank statement for a China visa: what the embassy asks for

The bank statement for a China visa is six months, of the applicant or the company. There is no published minimum balance, whatever anyone has told you.

Important: ChinaBridge is a private Nigerian company, not the Chinese Embassy, Visa Application Service Centre, or any government agency. We simply help you prepare and review your application. You submit it yourself and pay official fees directly to the Centre. No agent can approve or guarantee a visa.

The bank statement is the China visa document Nigerian applicants worry about most.

Usually because somebody has told them:

“You need at least ₦5 million.”

Another person says:

₦10 million.

A visa agent says:

₦20 million is safer.

None of those figures appears in China's current published visa requirements for Nigerian M-business applicants.

What the current rule actually says is much simpler:

provide bank statements covering the last six months from the applicant or the company.

There is no published minimum balance.

What does China actually ask for? #

For an M business visa, China's current Nigeria guidance requires:

a bank statement for the previous six months from the applicant or the company.

The same application also includes:

• the correct invitation documents
• paid flight booking
• hotel booking
• itinerary
• passport and application documents

and any additional material the consular officer considers necessary.

So the bank statement is important.

But it is one part of the file.

Six months means six months #

Do not submit three months because:

“That is what my bank normally prints.”

The published requirement is:

six months.

If you are applying in September, the statement should normally show roughly the previous six-month period leading up to the application.

If your account is genuinely newer than six months, do not manufacture history.

Submit what exists and ask the Visa Application Centre whether any additional document is needed for your circumstances.

Can you use your company bank statement? #

Yes.

This is stated directly in the official requirement.

It says:

the applicant or the company.

That is useful for Nigerian business owners.

You may have:

₦800,000 in your personal account

but run most of your business through a company account that regularly handles several million naira.

If the company is genuinely funding the trip, the company statement may make more sense than trying to make your personal account look like the business account.

The rest of the application should support that story.

Keep the company story consistent #

If you use the company account, make sure the company name across the file makes sense.

For example:

CAC company: ABC Trading Ltd

Bank account: ABC Trading Ltd

Company introduction: ABC Trading Ltd

Trip purpose: ABC Trading Ltd representative visiting suppliers

That is much cleaner than:

invitation: ABC Trading Ltd

statement: XYZ Ventures

with no explanation of how the two are connected.

Consistency matters.

Is there a minimum balance? #

China's current Nigeria visa guideline does not publish one.

Not:

₦500,000

Not:

₦2 million

Not:

₦5 million

Not:

₦10 million.

We found no fixed M-visa minimum balance in the current Embassy/Consulate requirements for Nigerian applicants.

So if an agent says:

“Embassy rule is ₦10 million,”

ask to see the official Chinese source.

Then how much should be in the account? #

There is no official formula we can give you.

The useful test is whether the financial documents make the proposed trip believable.

Suppose your application says:

10 days in Guangzhou

with:

paid flights + hotel + local expenses

and possibly business meetings.

The statement should fit that story.

That is very different from chasing a random number because somebody on WhatsApp said it guarantees approval.

Do not confuse balance with financial history #

A bank statement is not just the number on the last page.

It shows:

money coming in

money going out

how the account is normally used

and:

whether the closing balance fits that history.

That is why six months matters.

A genuine active account tells a story over time.

The last-day deposit problem #

Imagine an account normally has:

₦150,000–₦400,000

moving through it.

Three days before the visa application:

₦8 million arrives.

Then the applicant prints the statement.

There may be a genuine explanation.

Maybe a customer paid an invoice.

Maybe the owner transferred business funds.

But if the transaction does not fit the rest of the file, it can create a question rather than solve one.

Do not build your application around a temporary balance arranged only for printing.

A good statement should make sense naturally #

Think:

real account

real activity

real business

real trip.

Not:

“How do I make the last line bigger?”

For a trader, a company account showing normal:

• customer payments
• supplier payments
• transfers
• operating expenses

can often tell the business story much better than a dormant personal savings account.

Does the statement have to be stamped? #

The current Nigeria-specific M-visa guideline says:

bank statement for the previous six months.

It does not, on the published page, specify that every statement must carry a physical bank stamp.

So we would not tell you:

“An unstamped statement is automatically rejected.”

That rule is not on the current published Nigeria page.

The sensible approach is to use an official statement issued by your bank.

If your bank can provide a stamped or formally authenticated copy easily, there is little downside to obtaining one.

What you should not submit is:

a screenshot from your mobile banking app.

Use a proper bank statement.

Printed statement or PDF? #

Use a readable bank-issued document showing:

• account holder
• account number/details as presented by the bank
• transaction history
• relevant six-month period
• balances

The exact submission format can change as the visa process becomes increasingly online.

Follow the document-upload instructions shown in your Visa Application Centre account.

Then carry any physical documents requested when you submit the passport.

What if your personal account is weak but the company account is strong? #

If the company is genuinely paying for the trip, use the company route properly.

Do not transfer company money temporarily into your personal account simply because:

“Visa must be personal account.”

For an M visa, the official wording expressly permits:

the applicant's or the company's bank statement.

That is one of the most useful lines in the whole requirement.

What if you are self-employed? #

Then make the business easy to understand.

Your file can connect:

you

to:

your registered business

to:

the company bank account

to:

the Chinese supplier/fair

to:

the purpose of the trip.

Do not make the consular officer guess how:

Mr Chukwu

is connected to:

ABC Global Ventures.

Use consistent company documents and explanation.

Can someone else sponsor your business trip? #

This needs more care.

For the M visa, the current published Nigeria requirement specifically refers to:

the applicant's or the company's bank statement.

It does not set out a standard third-party sponsorship route for M applicants.

That is different from some other visa categories where financial guarantors or other funding evidence may be specifically relevant.

So if your business trip depends entirely on:

a parent

friend

relative

or:

unrelated sponsor

funding you, contact the Visa Application Centre before building the application around their statement.

Do not assume a sponsorship format from a UK, US or Schengen application works for China.

What if the Chinese company is paying? #

Your invitation should state the source of funds for the trip.

China's M-visa invitation requirements specifically ask for information about who will bear the applicant's expenses.

If the Chinese inviter genuinely pays for:

hotel

local transport

or:

other costs,

say so accurately in the invitation.

But do not assume that this automatically removes the published requirement for the applicant/company six-month bank statement.

The current Nigeria M-visa list still asks for it.

Do not take cash to prove funds #

The requirement is a:

bank statement.

Turning up with:

US$10,000 cash

does not turn cash into six months of banking history.

Bring the document China asks for.

Do not invent a substitute.

Never edit a bank statement #

Do not:

• change the balance
• remove transactions
• alter dates
• insert fake deposits
• edit the account holder's name
• create a statement in Photoshop

The Chinese authorities can ask for additional materials and assess the authenticity and consistency of your file.

A weak genuine statement can be improved over time.

A falsified document creates a credibility problem far bigger than a low balance.

If your honest statement looks weak, what can you do? #

You have legitimate options.

Use the company account #

If the company genuinely funds the trip.

Shorten the trip #

A seven-day sourcing trip is cheaper than three weeks.

Your travel plan should match what you can genuinely fund.

Build more account history #

If the business has only just started, sometimes the best answer is time.

Improve the rest of the file #

A clear invitation, genuine supplier relationship and coherent itinerary help the application make sense.

Apply when the trip is real #

Do not rush an application simply because an agent says:

“Let's just try.”

Do not borrow money just to park it for the visa #

Borrowing:

₦5 million

for one week,

printing the statement,

then returning the money

does not create six months of financial capacity.

It creates one unusual transaction.

If you genuinely have a loan facility or financing arrangement funding the trip, that is different.

But artificial balance-building purely for the application is not a substitute for a coherent financial file.

Your statement should match the trip cost #

Before applying, calculate what you are actually proposing.

Think about:

• flight
• hotel
• food
• local transport
• visa and service fees
• business-trip expenses

Then ask:

Does my funding story make sense?

Our China visa cost guide helps you estimate the trip.

The goal is not to hit a secret Embassy number.

The goal is to present a trip that is genuinely fundable.

The bank statement does not approve the visa by itself #

You can have:

₦50 million

in the account

and still have problems if:

the invitation is wrong

the purpose makes no sense

the travel dates conflict

or:

the documents are inconsistent.

Likewise, there is no official published rule saying that a particular large balance guarantees approval.

The visa decision considers the application as a whole.

The five pieces should tell one story #

For a normal M business application, think of:

PASSPORT

Who are you?

INVITATION

Why are you going?

BANK STATEMENT

How is the trip funded?

FLIGHT + HOTEL

When and where are you travelling?

APPLICATION

Does everything match?

If all five point in different directions, a big balance will not repair the story.

A simple bank-statement checklist #

Before uploading it:

PERIOD

✓ Full six months?

NAME

✓ Applicant or company named correctly?

BUSINESS

✓ If company-funded, does the rest of the file connect you to that company?

ACTIVITY

✓ Statement genuinely reflects the account?

FORMAT

✓ Clear, readable bank-issued statement?

CONSISTENCY

✓ Trip funding makes sense beside the invitation, flights and hotel?

AUTHENTICITY

✓ Nothing altered?

If those are all yes, stop worrying about invented minimum-balance figures.

The short answer #

For a Nigerian M-business visa, China's current published requirement is:

six months of bank statements from the applicant or the company.

There is no published minimum naira balance in that requirement.

So do not build your application around:

“How much do I need to put inside the account?”

Build it around:

real six-month history + credible funding + consistent business documents + a genuine trip.

If the company pays, the official rule allows the company statement.

If the account is new or unusual, explain the real situation rather than manufacturing history.

And never alter the statement.

For the rest of the application, use documents for China visa in Nigeria.

Then check China visa invitation letter.

And if a previous application failed, read China visa rejection reasons for Nigerians before reapplying.

First published 23 Sep 2026. Last checked 23 Sep 2026 by The ChinaBridge desk. Something here out of date? Tell us in the comments and we will fix it.