Hello, Mrs. M. I'm a Chinese who also holds a debit card of China Merchants Bank. I have a booklet of debit card using instruction. It tells me that I can use this card in China and also abroad. I can use it to pay for items and also get cash from the ATM. For example, your debit card can loan 1000 pounds from the bank. When you are in China, you can loan 1000*exchange rate between British pound and Chinese Renminbi. Anyway, you'd better go to consult the bank that your debit card belongs to.