Source: just came back from China, went to a few banks and tried to open an account.
AliPay seems to now accept foreign debit cards though as a source of funding.
reality is: rules change. bank-clerks are not always up-to-date on rules. also, there are local variations. things that work in beijing or shanghai may not work in smaller cities, or vice versa. it also depends on the bank.
all you can take is that: one person was able to open a bank account, another was not.
when something doesn't work somethimes this means, other experiences are old, sometimes it means that it's worth trying a few places.
This is completely false.