all very interesting questions:
as for credit cards, you dont want a chinese one anyway. the interest rates are unbelievable, charged by the day and you MUST pay off your balance by the end of the month. If you are over, the interest is calculated off of the total amount of credit o.O …. get one from a US bank and have them send it to you.
transferring money out of here is a big pain in the ass and not really the best way unless its a very large sum. What I do is call my local money changer dude (Charles might direct you to a certain Englishman we both know who has that number, I lost the number unfortunately) and then take that cash to Western Union (no hassles, fees) or to Hong Kong (slight hassle, less fees).
Transferring large amounts of money out of China will require a paper trail as to where that cash came from, plus fees that I can’t foresee. And don’t want to. If you (or someone you know) has a registered company, then the process is smoother, but still requires a paper trail.