Trading tournaments in China

No. The September 24, 2021 joint circular from the People's Bank of China (PBOC), CSRC, NFRA, MPS, SAFE and six other agencies classified all cryptocurrency-related business activity as illegal financial activity. Domestic crypto exchanges were shut down, Bitcoin mining was banned in June 2021, and mainland IPs are blocked by offshore exchanges. Retail continues to trade via VPN and P2P off-ramps but no legal path exists for tournament prize claims.

Not legally. All three block mainland IP addresses and reject PRC passport KYC to comply with PBOC guidance, despite being founded by Chinese nationals (Changpeng Zhao, Star Xu and Ben Zhou respectively). Users who access via VPN and non-Chinese identity documents are violating exchange terms and PBOC regulations; tournament prize claims from such accounts are subject to freeze on discovery.

CSRC-licensed brokerages (Huatai 华泰, CITIC 中信, Ping An 平安, Guotai Junan 国泰君安, China Merchants 招商, Haitong 海通) run 模拟炒股 (simulated A-share trading) contests as retail engagement programs. Prizes are typically brokerage-fee credits, educational giveaways or trip incentives rather than PnL cash pools. Occasional STAR Market or ChiNext contests surface for qualified retail investors meeting the 500,000 RMB asset threshold.

Generally no. FTMO, FundedNext, Topstep and most major offshore prop firms exclude mainland Chinese residents in KYC screening. WCTC and the U.S. Investing Championship technically accept international entrants but the audited-statement requirement typically routes through offshore brokerage, which SAFE capital controls block for mainland residents. Hong Kong SFC-licensed VATPs are the nearest accessible legal venue but require valid HK residency or documentation.

Prize income falls under China's Individual Income Tax Law as incidental income, generally taxed at a 20% rate for occasional prize windfalls. Foreign-source income for Chinese tax residents is in principle worldwide-taxable under the 2019 IIT reform. Crypto-related winnings sit in a legal grey zone because the underlying activity is prohibited. Consult a mainland Chinese CPA for non-trivial amounts, especially for foreign-currency or crypto-denominated prizes.