A Brief History of the Chinese Yuan Currency

In commemoration of the 2024 Chinese New Year, the People’s Bank of China issued ¥20 commemorative banknotes in polymer in January 2024. In commemoration of the 70th Anniversary of the issuance of the Renminbi, the People’s Bank of China issued 120 million ¥50 banknotes on 28 December 2018. The denomination of each banknote is printed in simplified written cm trading broker review Chinese. The numbers themselves are printed in financial[note 2] Chinese numeral characters, as well as Arabic numerals. The denomination and the words “People’s Bank of China” are also printed in Mongolian, Tibetan, Uyghur and Zhuang on the back of each banknote, in addition to the boldface Hanyu Pinyin “Zhongguo Renmin Yinhang” (without tones).

  1. The maximum dollar withdrawal is $10,000 per day, the maximum purchase limit of US dollars is $500 per day.
  2. China also has been accused of deliberately keeping the yuan’s value low to depress its export prices, but currency manipulation is difficult to prove.
  3. One way to understand this is to imagine a country that uses gold as its currency.
  4. Already awash with excessive paper currency, the CGUs only added to rampant hyperinflation.

Anyone suspecting a link between the mao and Chinese former communist leader Mao Zedong would be mistaken. There is nothing wrong with the word jiao, it is just that most people use the word mao instead. China’s first domestically produced machine-struck dollar coin, or yuan, was minted in Guangdong province in 1890. The Chinese Yuan continued to lose value during the COVID-19 pandemic, largely due to reduced economic activity and strict lockdowns. In April of 2022, the yuan suffered its largest-ever monthly price drop, losing 7% of its value over three months.

Chinese Yuan Renminbi (CNY): Overview, History

Even so, it’s unwise for the U.S. to allow itself to become so indebted to any other country. Any country that keeps its currency artificially low to boost cheap exports can be accused of currency manipulation. Countries with low currency values export more because their products cost less than their competitors’ products. The Xe Rate Alerts will let you know when the rate you need is triggered on your selected currency pairs. Live tracking and notifications + flexible delivery and payment options.

It is also known as the Chinese yuan (CNY) and by the symbol ‘¥’. ‘Paper money’ (actually yellowy low-grade perforated paper) is even burned for the dead in the belief (or tradition) that it will give them money for the afterlife, especially on Qingming Festival or Tomb Sweeping Day. For higher level transactions, ingots of silver were commonly used.

USD – US Dollar

When telling someone how much something costs, you would be unlikely to say “This car costs 10 gold.” You need some sort of unit, such https://forexhero.info/ as ounces. Then you could say, “This car costs 10 ounces of gold.” In this example, gold is the currency, and ounce is the unit.

In 1979, the State Council approved a system allowing exporters and their provincial and local government owners to retain a share of their foreign exchange earnings, referred to as foreign exchange quotas. At the same time, the government introduced measures to allow retention of part of the foreign exchange earnings from non-trade sources, such as overseas remittances, port fees paid by foreign vessels, and tourism. The People’s Bank of China has exclusive authority to issue currency. Banknotes are issued in denominations from 1 fen to 100 renminbi. The reverse side of most coins, which range in denominations from 1 fen to 1 renminbi, contains images of historic buildings and the country’s diverse landscape.

Chinese Money — History, Bank Notes, and Coins

For most of its early history, the renminbi was pegged to the U.S. dollar at ¥2.46 per dollar. During the 1970s, it was revalued until it reached ¥1.50 per dollar in 1980. When China’s economy gradually opened in the 1980s, the renminbi was devalued in order to improve the competitiveness of Chinese exports. Thus, the official exchange rate increased from ¥1.50 in 1980 to ¥8.62 by 1994 (the lowest rate on record). Improving current account balance during the latter half of the 1990s enabled the Chinese government to maintain a peg of ¥8.27 per US$1 from 1997 to 2005.

Before Japanese occupation, the predominant bank of China’s northern provinces (including Suiyuan, Chahar and Shanxi) was the Charhar Commercial Bank. When the Japanese invaded, the bank evacuated the area taking all of its capital and all unissued currency. The Japanese military government quickly established the Channan Commercial Bank to replace its note issuing functions. Currently, the renminbi is the official currency of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

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). In addition, although you will see the word “yuan” written in Chinese pinyin, you won’t see the character for yuan (元) anywhere. If you find the difference between currency and units confusing, it might seem like a good idea to figure out which word for money is most popular in China and use that one.

From Shells to Silver

Below, you’ll find Chinese Yuan Renminbi rates and a currency converter. In the Republic of China, the common English name is the “New Taiwan dollar” but banknotes issued between 1949 and 1956 used “yuan” as the transliteration.[6] More modern notes lack any transliteration. 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.

Photos of Old Chinese Bank Notes

Between 1930 and 1948, banknotes were also issued by the Central Bank of China denominated in customs gold units. These, known as “gold yuan notes”, circulated as normal currency in the 1940s alongside the yuan. As of 2019, renminbi banknotes are available in denominations from ¥0.1, ¥0.5 (1 and 5 jiao), ¥1, ¥5, ¥10, ¥20, ¥50 and ¥100. These denominations have been available since 1955, except for the ¥20 notes (added in 1999 with the fifth series) ¥50 and ¥100 notes (added in 1987 with the fourth series). Coins are available in denominations from ¥0.01 to ¥1 (¥0.01–1). On rare occasions, larger yuan coin denominations such as ¥5 have been issued to commemorate events but use of these outside of collecting has never been widespread.

In order to distinguish between the mainland currency with other uses of the word, the modern-day Chinese Yuan uses the abbreviation CNY. Forex brokers, for example, will quote prices with the ticker CNY. 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 equivalent before you spend.

These are the highest points the exchange rate has been at in the last 30 and 90-day periods. These developments have led to intense speculation that the renminbi will soon become one of the major international currencies. In terms of size and dynamism, the economy of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) stands out among the emerging markets. It has already become the world’s second-largest economy and is now one of the largest contributors to global growth.

The modern Yuan (CNY) which is also called Renminbi (RMB) appeared with the foundation of the People’s Bank of China, being issued in 1949. The translation of Renminbi is “people’s currency” and new stages of the Yuan came afterwards, like in 1962 when a third version of the coin was issued. We won’t enter the details here, but, to sum up, the first objects used as currency by the Chinese were seashells. When we talk about China we are referring to one of the world’s oldest and richest cultures which traces back thousands of years ago. The country was one of the pioneers to create currency in order to replace barter. Thus, its currency history is something that has a long interesting timeline enriched with curious facts that definitely worth a deeper look.

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