After reading this guide, you should now be more confident in your understanding of the Chinese yuan renminbi. Take a careful look at a real 100 RMB note and compare it against the one you believe to be counterfeit renminbi. The People’s Bank of China has implemented several security features to help identify genuine notes. In the rare event you do find yourself worried your money is fake, here is how to determine whether or not this is true. When traveling internationally, there’s always the risk of receiving fake currency as you are targeted as an “unbeknownst traveler.” Luckily in China, the risk of getting your hands on fake RMB is really low. Exchanging money for renminb if actually requires quite a bit of strategy if you want to get the most bang for your buck.
However, trade disputes with China continued during Joe Biden’s presidency, with tariffs on electric vehicles, solar cells and semiconductors, and other technology products. Trump returned to office in January 2025 and announced new tariffs on China. Below are a few of the most common questions we receive from people looking into what the currency of China is.
One yuan is divided into ten Jiao and a Jiao is successively divided into ten fens. The renminbi (currency in China) is issued by the People’s Bank of China, the financial authority of China. In the 1950s, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) began to issue renminbi banknotes and coins. In the 1980s, the Chinese government began to move the renminbi towards a convertible currency and began to introduce reforms aimed at making the currency more market-based.
Although it’s still possible to pay with cash in China, mobile payment options enjoy growing popularity. If you aren’t quite sure how to use Chinese mobile payment platforms, you’ll be pleased to know that China does still accept cash. However, it is important to recognize that although physical bills are still very much in circulation in China, mobile payment options such as WeChat Pay and Alipay are becoming more and more common.
You may also notice these more complicated ways of writing numbers on certain official receipts that you get in China. Chinese paper money comes in denominations of one, five, ten, twenty, fifty and one hundred. Today, renminbi is the general name for the Chinese currency, while yuan is the name of a unit of that currency. One way to understand this is to imagine a country that uses gold as its currency. The word renminbi came into use the same year the People’s Republic of China was founded, in 1949.
That said, China imposes strict currency controls on the currency domestically, which can result in renminbi trading at a different price inside and outside of the country. For this reason, traders often use the abbreviation CNH in order to refer to the price of renminbi outside of the country. Banknotes were issued in yuan denominations from the 1890s by several local and private banks, along with the Imperial Bank of China and the “Hu Pu Bank” (later the “Ta-Ch’ing Government Bank”), established by the Imperial government. During the Imperial period, banknotes were issued in denominations of 1, 2 and 5 jiao, 1, 2, 5, 10, 50 and 100 yuan, although notes below 1 yuan were uncommon. The renminbi, introduced in 1948, is abbreviated as RMB but it is not an official currency code.
In 1948, the Central Bank of China issued notes (some dated 1945 and 1946) in denominations of 1, 2 and 5 jiao, 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 yuan. In 1949, higher denominations of 500, 1000, 5000, 10,000, 50,000, 100,000, 500,000, 1,000,000 and 5,000,000 yuan were issued. The Central Bank of China issued notes in denominations of 1 and 5 fen, 1, 2 and 5 jiao, 1, 5 and 10 yuan. China has the world’s second largest economy and Chinese money plays an increasingly important role in global financial transactions. That said, there’s still a great deal of confusion when it comes to Chinese currency.
In 1949, the Communist Party defeated the Kuomintang and Mao Zedong proclaimed the People’s Republic of China, making the renminbi the sole legal currency across the country. Hong Kong’s currency is the Hong Kong Dollar and Macau’s currency is called the Pataca. Paying for things in a new currency in a new country can be exciting, but be sure you have a good idea of how much you’re actually paying in your own currency best crypto trading bot equivalent before you spend.
For the sake of easy carriage, the bank staff will always give you some big notes. Sometimes if a customer tries to pay in cash but does not have the exact amount, shop owners and taxi drivers will say that they cannot make change and request that the customer pays using WeChat or Alipay instead. If you look closely at a 1 yuan banknote, however, you will see the characters 壹圆 (yī yuán) under the “1” in the middle to the left of Mao’s portrait.
Alternatively, you could exchange money in your home country before getting on the plane. If you only plan to stay in China for a short time, however, you should be able to withdraw cash at most Chinese ATMs using major credit cards such as Visa or Mastercard. In most cases, you will have to pay a small fee when withdrawing money using international cards. It is even possible to spend an entire day paying for everything with a smartphone instead of cash.
China’s central bank devalued its currency last week, sending major stock markets in Asia and Europe down, and sparking fears of additional exchange rate devaluations in other countries. When reading news and analysis of this event, you might see both terms—“renminbi” and “yuan”—used interchangeably. The renminbi is the official currency of the People’s Republic of China, and translates to “people’s money.” Its international symbol is CNY (or CNH in Hong Kong; but abbreviated RMB, with the symbol ¥). Transactions between Chinese companies and a foreign entity were generally denominated in US dollars. With Chinese companies unable to hold US dollars and foreign companies unable to hold Chinese yuan, all transactions would go through the People’s Bank of China.
Despite these limitations, China has gradually eased some of its capital controls in recent years, allowing for more foreign investment and greater flexibility in currency exchange. These measures are part of China’s broader efforts to integrate more deeply into the global economy and enhance the international role of the yuan. The dual exchange rate system allows for greater flexibility in international trade and investment while enabling the Chinese government to retain control over its domestic financial environment. The difference between CNY and CNH can be influenced by various factors, including market demand, economic conditions, and geopolitical events. An important aspect of the yuan’s international presence is the distinction between its onshore (CNY) and offshore (CNH) exchange rates.
If you have further questions you would like to ask our team, don’t hesitate to get in touch. Once you’ve got your renminbi in hand, be sure to take some time to examine it and think about its history, its future and all the different ways there are to refer to it in both English and Chinese. If you are traveling to China for the first time, you might be wondering whether or not to bring any cash. The character 圆 (yuán) is a variant of 元 (yuán) and the two share the same pronunciation. As for the 壹 (yī), it is just another, more complicated form of 一 (yī) that is used by bankers in China as an anti-fraud measure since it is harder to alter than the simple 一 (yī).
The onshore rate, CNY, is the rate at which the yuan is traded within mainland China. This rate is tightly controlled by the People’s Bank of China and reflects the official monetary policy. In July 1949, the Nationalist Government introduced the silver yuan, which was initially worth 500 million gold yuan. It circulated for a few months on the mainland before the end of the civil war. This silver yuan remained the de jure official currency of the Republic government in Taiwan until 2000. Between 1930 and 1948, banknotes were also issued by the Central Bank of China denominated in customs gold units.
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