中国公司不仅在钢铁、造船、电池和电动车等合法行业占据主导地位，如今中国的地下组织也接管了国际洗钱网络。美国财政部估计，中国每年洗钱约1540亿美元的不法资金，相当于美国非法毒品交易的主要收益。传统的洗钱服务费率为7-10%，而中国网络仅收取1-2%，使其迅速在全球取代旧有模式。这些网络不仅收费更低，操作范围广、效率高，而且能够每天清洗近1亿美元非法加密货币，比如在2024年朝鲜黑客盗取15亿美元时起到关键作用。

中国洗钱网络的成功来源于技术创新、外贸顺差及严格的资本管制，每人每年出境资金不得超过5万美元。这催生了“三方交易”机制，既满足毒贩将美元转出美国的需求，也帮助中国富人把人民币转到海外，还能将资金转换为墨西哥比索等其他所需货币。同时，通过仿真交易、虚假发票、赌博和空壳公司等多手段相结合，这些网络将犯罪所得混入合法金融体系。东南亚华裔帮派的诈骗带来年收益高达5000亿美元，其中大量亟需洗白。

各国虽不断打击这些网络，但执法极富挑战，例如美国因通讯加密难以获取犯罪证据。洗钱网络通过招募钱骡、利用学生或腐败银行员工开设账户等手法，使追查更为困难。2021-2025年，华诺等平台被指控协助洗钱至少40亿美元。此外，当前国际合作稀缺，多个司法辖区的存在和服务合法客户与犯罪分子并行，使中国洗钱网络的肃清难度远超以往拉美犯罪集团。

Chinese underground organizations, like firms in other sectors, have come to dominate global money-laundering networks—an illicit industry estimated by the US Treasury to channel around $154bn annually through China, roughly matching all of America’s illicit drug proceeds. By lowering service fees from 7-10% (traditional rate) to just 1-2% and using technical innovations, these networks have outcompeted older players. Chinese operations can launder up to $100m per day, such as during North Korea’s record $1.5bn cryptocurrency theft in 2024, likely aided by Chinese underground bankers.

The networks thrive due to technical advances, China’s trade surpluses, and especially the $50,000 per year capital outflow limit. This spawns a three-way trade letting drug traffickers move dollars out of the US, Chinese citizens send yuan abroad, and cartels receive desired currencies. Launderers use mirror transactions, fake invoices, gambling, shell companies, and scams—Chinese criminal groups in Southeast Asia alone generate $500bn a year—merging illicit funds into the legitimate financial system at massive scale.

Authorities in the US and UK have begun targeting these networks but face immense hurdles: encrypted communication, money mules, and corrupt bank employees complicate prosecution. Huione, for example, allegedly moved at least $4bn in illicit funds across 2021-2025. The presence across multiple jurisdictions and the servicing of both lawful and criminal clients, alongside limited cooperation with China, make suppression of Chinese money-laundering far harder than previous Latin American networks.