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. The term Chinese yuan renminbi (CNY) refers to the currency used in the People’s Republic of China.

The Sichuan-Shaanxi Soviet issued copper 200 and 500 wen and silver 1 yuan coins. In terms of size and dynamism, the economy of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) https://www.tradebot.online/ 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.

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 government also gradually allowed market forces to take the dominant role by introducing an “internal settlement rate” of ¥2.8 to 1 US dollar which was a devaluation of almost 100%. The digital yuan, or e-CNY, is only available to users of certain banks in certain Chinese cities. As of April of 2022, the digital yuan app is available in 23 Chinese cities, and the digital yuan can be purchased through seven Chinese banks, as well as the online payment services WeChat and Alipay. Some economists believe that these controls keep the yuan artificially devalued in order to make the country’s exports more attractive.

All jiǎo coins depicted similar designs to the fēn coins while the yuán depicted the Great Wall of China. The denomination of each banknote is printed in simplified written Chinese. The numbers themselves are printed in financial[b] Chinese numeral characters, as well as Arabic numerals.

1. The program has since expanded to all areas of China and all international counterparties.
2. The denomination of each banknote is printed in simplified written Chinese.
3. 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.
4. The fifth series is now legal tender, leading the prior ones to be phased out.
5. As of 2013, the renminbi is convertible on current accounts but not capital accounts.

The Renminbi in Foreign ExchangeDuring the command economy, the Chinese Yuan Renminbi was set to unrealistic exchange values and as a result, severe currency guidelines were put in place. When China’s economy opened in 1978, the Yuan Renminbi was only used domestically and foreigners used exchange certificates; this led to a powerful black market. From 1997 to 2005, the Chinese government pegged the Chinese Yuan Renminbi to the US Dollar at approximately 8.3 CNY to 1 USD. In 2005, a flexible mechanism of exchange rates was phased in, with the RMB being re-evaluated to 8.1 Renminbi per US dollar.

Commemorative issues of the renminbi banknotes

In the aftermath of the Second World War and during the civil war which followed, Nationalist China suffered from hyperinflation, leading to the introduction of a new currency in 1948, the gold yuan. In the 1940s, larger denominations of notes appeared due to the high inflation. 500 yuan notes were introduced in 1941, followed by 1,000 and 2,000 yuan in 1942, 2,500 and 5,000 yuan in 1945 and 10,000 yuan in 1947. The Republic of China, which governs Taiwan, believes wide usage of the renminbi would create an underground economy and undermine its sovereignty.[88] Tourists are allowed to bring in up to ¥20,000 when visiting Taiwan. Banknote printing facilities are based in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Xi’an, Shijiazhuang, and Nanchang.

A floating exchange rate regime and convertibility for renminbi were seen as the ultimate goal of the reform. Conditional convertibility under current account was achieved by allowing firms to surrender their foreign exchange earning from current account transactions and purchase foreign exchange as needed. Restrictions on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) was also loosened and capital inflows to China surged. China uses currency controls to maintain the value of the Chinese Yuan at a favorable level.

The largest banknote is 100 yuan, followed by 50 yuan, 20 yuan, 10 yuan, 5 yuan, and 1 yuan. There are 10 jiao in a yuan (like dimes in a dollar) and 10 fen in a jiao. 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. Our currency rankings show that the most popular US Dollar exchange rate is the USD to USD rate. Beginning in January 2010, Chinese and non-Chinese citizens have an annual exchange limit of a maximum of US$50,000. Currency exchange will only proceed if the applicant appears in person at the relevant bank and presents their passport or Chinese ID.

If the PRC continues on its present growth track, it may soon takeover from the United States as the world’s largest economy. 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 2022 Winter Olympics, the People’s Bank of China issued ¥20 commemorative banknotes in both paper and polymer in December 2021.

How Much Is One Chinese Yuan Worth?

Coins are also issued in one and five jiao, along with one yuan denominations. The earliest issues were silver coins produced at the Guangdong mint, known in the West at the time as Canton, and transliterated as Kwangtung, in denominations of 5 cents, 1, 2 and 5 jiao and 1 yuan. Other regional mints were opened in the 1890s producing similar silver coins along with copper coins in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 cash.[4] The central government began issuing its own coins in the yuan currency system in 1903.

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 ¥). The ISO code for the renminbi is CNY, the PRC’s country code (CN) plus “Y” from “yuan”.[13] Hong Kong markets that trade renminbi at free-floating rates use the unofficial code CNH. This is to distinguish the rates from those fixed by Chinese central banks on the mainland.[14] The abbreviation RMB is not an ISO code but is sometimes used like one by banks and financial institutions. The first locally minted silver dollar or yuan accepted all over Qing dynasty China (1644–1912) was the silver dragon dollar introduced in 1889. Various banknotes denominated in dollars or yuan were also introduced, which were convertible to silver dollars until 1935 when the silver standard was discontinued and the Chinese yuan was made fabi (法币; legal tender fiat currency).

Chinese Yuan Renminbi (CNY): Overview, History

During the Chinese Civil War, the communist party established the People’s Bank of China and issued the first renminbi notes in December 1948, about a year before it defeated the Kuomintang government. Some only issued silver 1 yuan coins (Hunan, Eyuwan, Northeastern Jiangxi, North Shaanxi and Pingjiang) whilst the West Hunan-Hubei Soviet only issued copper 1 fen coins and the North-West Anhui Soviet issued only copper 50 wen coins. The Chinese Soviet Republic issued copper 1 and 5 fen and silver 2 jiao and 1 yuan coins.

After the revolution, a great many local, national and foreign banks issued currency. Although the provincial coinages mostly ended in the 1920s, the provincial banks continued issuing notes until 1949, including Communist issues from 1930. Most of the banknotes issued for use throughout the country bore the words “National Currency”, as did some of the provincial banks. The remaining provincial banknotes bore the words “Local Currency”. These circulated at varying exchange rates to the national currency issues. After the revolution, in addition to the denominations already in circulation, “small money” notes proliferated, with 1, 2 and 5 cent denominations appearing.

Transition to an equilibrium exchange rate

In 2015 the People’s Bank of China again devalued their country’s currency. As of 1 September 2015[update], the exchange rate for US$1 is ¥6.38. In 1991, a new coinage was introduced, consisting of an aluminium ¥0.1, brass ¥0.5 and nickel-clad steel ¥1. These were smaller than the previous jiǎo and yuán coins and depicted flowers on the obverse and the national emblem on the reverse. Issuance of the aluminium ¥0.01 and ¥0.02 coins ceased in 1991, with that of the ¥0.05 halting in 1994.

Banks in Hong Kong allow people to maintain accounts in RMB.[85] Because of changes in legislation in July 2010, many banks around the world[86] are now slowly offering individuals the chance to hold deposits in Chinese renminbi. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, China worked to make the renminbi more convertible. Through the use of swap centres, the exchange rate was eventually brought to more realistic levels of above ¥8/US$1 in 1994 and the FEC was discontinued. It stayed above ¥8/$1 until 2005 when the renminbi’s peg to the dollar was loosened and it was allowed to appreciate.