Chinese yuan history and types of modern banknotes. History of Chinese money

The Chinese Yuan is the official currency of the Chinese People's Republic. The name of the currency - yuan, is used only abroad. It is translated into Russian as "round coin" or "circle". internal name currencies - renminbi or, as is customary in Latin spelling, Renminbi, which translates as "people's money". The ISO code for the Chinese Yuan is 4217, the official abbreviation is CNY.

IN All-Russian classifier currencies, the national currency of China was called:
- Chinese yuan (from 26.12.1994 to 01.01.2001);
- Renminbi yuan (from 01/01/2001 to 02/01/2007);
- Renminbi yuan (from 01.02.2007 to 2009);
- yuan (from 2009 to the present).

One yuan is made up of ten jiao, and one jiao is made up of 10 fen. For example, an amount of 3.75 yuan would sound like 3 yuan, 7 jiao, 5 fen. In popular pronunciation, kuai is more often heard instead of yuan, and jiao is replaced by mao.

Currently in money circulation there are yuan in the form of the following denominations: 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100. In denominations 1, 2 and 5, jiao are also issued. The country also has coins in denominations of 1, 2, 5 fen, 1.5 jiao and 1 yuan. The yuan is issued by the People's Bank of China.

In the administrative regions of the PRC, Hong Kong and Macau, as well as in the province of Taiwan, their own currencies are in circulation:
- Hong Kong dollar;
- pataca Macau;
- Taiwanese dollar.

Despite the fact that these territories belong to China, all settlements in these regions are carried out only in their own currency, and the Chinese yuan is considered as a foreign currency from the point of view of currency regulation.

China is the second largest economy in the world. Huge productions of various companies from all over the world are located in China. And therefore, a very large amount of money goes in yuan. In October 2013, they became the most popular currency in world trade after the dollar. Most often, the Chinese currency is used in international settlements in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Germany and Australia.

China has financed the US budget deficit for about eight years, spending a total of about $900 billion on Treasury bonds. If now the PRC sells them, the dollar faces an imminent collapse. Using the current situation, China seeks to achieve its main goal- make the yuan a global currency. In the event that the yuan receives the status of a reserve currency, the rules of the game in the world market will be set by China, not the United States.

One of the first attempts to export the yuan was made by China when it issued government bonds, which later became one of the reserve assets for the Asian Bond Fund 2. A market for yuan-denominated private bonds, nicknamed Dim Sum, is also emerging. In early 2010, China allowed non-financial companies to issue bonds in yuan. One of the first non-Chinese non-financial companies to take advantage of this opportunity was the American corporation McDonald's.

Another move to globalize the Chinese yuan was the launch of the China Foreign Exchange Trade System in Shanghai. This system is a platform for the interbank foreign exchange market, where the yuan is traded in exchange for other world currencies. The trading volume on this site reaches $37 billion daily. Another important initiative in this direction was the launch in 2009 of a pilot project in which several dozen Chinese companies received permission to use the yuan for trade transactions outside of China.

The Chinese government plans that in the coming years (according to different estimates in 2015-2016) the yuan will become a convertible currency. This will be another step towards the liberalization of the economy and its transfer to a market economy.

In China today, the official national currency is the Yuan. Translated from Chinese Yuan means "round coin". Jiao (0.1 yuan) and fen (0.1 jiao) are also in use, which are analogous to kopecks or cents. The history of the appearance and formation of the Chinese monetary form is very ancient and is not without interesting and remarkable facts.

Historical stages of development of the Chinese currency

According to written sources, the first money appeared on the territory of China 3000-4500 years ago. The level of development of the language already at that time made it possible to use the concepts of “goods” and “buy” and there was a hieroglyph that meant money. The whole process of developing a monetary currency in China is characterized by instability and transitions from a single currency to the coexistence of different monetary forms at the same time.

Paper money first came into use in the 8th century. First printed money in China, they were made from deer skins about 33 centimeters in size. They were painted with a bright pattern and hieroglyphs. At different historical times, they lost their relevance, but then reappeared.
If we briefly consider the history of the development of the Chinese monetary system, we can single out the following remarkable stages and historical events:

• 5th century BC – 221 BC (reign of the Zhou Dynasty) - bronze became a single monetary form, which was made in the form of objects similar to a knife and a shovel.
• 260 BC – 210 BC - at this time, an attempt was made to unify the form of money and introduce a single currency in the form of a round copper coin, which had a square hole in the middle. Coins of this type were used in the future until the 20th century.
• 960-1279 - in different regions countries used coins made of lead, iron and copper. During this period, the regions of China are finally united into single state, which leads to economic growth and an increase in the production of money, which also penetrated the territory of Japan and South-East Asia. The trade led to the creation of a prototype promissory note document (flying money), which began to prevail among other monetary forms. When one merchant, due to the lack of goods, sent the buyer to a companion merchant who kept a shop in another city, paper was issued and paid. This made it more convenient to buy things and not carry ingots or bags of silk with you to another city.
• 1279-1368 (Yuan dynasty) - paper money were still in demand, but an innovation at this stage was the emergence of a single currency for the state, which was not tied to gold or silver. The government was in need of in large numbers money due to the conduct of numerous wars. In addition, there was not enough copper, and then in one of the provinces they decided to produce paper scrolls (jiaozi), which began to be used in trade. The heyday of paper money falls on the reign of the Yuan Dynasty, since money did not expire and were converted into precious metals. The amount of gold or silver purchased was limited, and transactions with their participation were prohibited.
• 1368-1644 (Ming Dynasty) Paper money began to fall out of circulation. The country resumed the use of silver bars weighing 36 grams (liang), which began to be additionally imported to China from Spain, Peru and Mexico. Only towards the end of the Ming Dynasty did they start printing again. money.
• 19th century - in 1835, the minting of silver yuan begins, but is still in the state financial sector liang is used. In 1889, money is additionally divided into jiao and feng. At that moment in different parts countries often used their own currency and used the money of other countries.

Modern history of currency

In fact, until 1935, the yuan was tied to silver, but then the silver standard was canceled, and paper money again entered the life of the Chinese. cash called "fabi", the gold standard was introduced.

At that time, one American dollar was worth 3.5 yuan, and in 1946 its level was already 3350 yuan. As a result of such inflation, a financial reform was carried out. The "golden yuan" was born, which had a value of 3 million fabi.

In 1948, the government introduced new money, which, by their name, translated from Chinese, emphasize the nationality of the currency (renminbi). Then the rate of the golden yuan against the dollar was 4 to 1. In the same year, a single state bank of the country was created, which led to the withdrawal of all other currencies from circulation and their replacement with yuan.


The renminbi began to stabilize after its pegging to the US dollar in 1974, which gave some advantages to Chinese-made products on the world market. Europe, the US and Japan have put pressure on China to abandon the dollar peg and free the exchange rate. In 2005, the state abolished the peg to the dollar, but made the right decision. The Renminbi strengthened its course and is now getting stronger every year by an average of 7%.

Today, the yuan is considered one of the most stable currencies in existence in the world.

The current exchange rate of the Chinese yuan in relation to other currencies is approximately equal to:
• 1 US dollar = 6.4 yuan
• 1 yuan = 1.35 Ukrainian hryvnia
• 1 yuan = 5.35 rubles

Economic position and prevalence of the Chinese currency

In China, the renminbi is the only legal means of payment.
Buying Chinese currency is very easy at Bank of China branches, airports, train stations, hotels and even large shopping malls.

Tourists and guests before traveling are best to acquire partially yuan and dollars (60% and 40%, respectively). Russian rubles or Ukrainian hryvnias cannot be exchanged for US dollars in the country.

In advance, Chinese currency can be purchased at the exchange offices of some commercial banks. The yuan is not yet widely popular in the exchange due to the lack of market needs.

Given the positive forecast for the growth of the currency, multiple investments in China are in national money. The idea of ​​creating bank accounts around the world in yuan is also being popularized, and more transactions are taking place in Chinese currency. The Renminbi is moving into the world market very slowly, but strategically confident. In the world, this currency already occupies an important niche, approaching the dollar and the euro. Economic downturns lead to the strengthening of its position. These money have every chance of becoming the world's reserve currency in the near future.

And now watch the video all about Chinese money:

The national currency is a system of monetary units that are issued central bank country and using for settlements within it. Naturally, each state has its own. In Russia it is the ruble, in the UK it is the pound sterling, and in China it is the yuan.

The history of the yuan

The history of the name of China's money is very interesting. During the reign of the Qing Dynasty, this was the name of gold coins. If translated from Chinese literally, then this is a round coin (round object).

The first mention of it is found 4500 thousand years ago, and in 1024, instead of copper money, they began to issue paper bills. Later, all old banknotes were replaced with new paper money.

From 1835 to 1933, the Chinese currency was called "liang". It looked like a silver round coin. And only in 1948 the National Bank was created. By his decision, all the funds that were in circulation were unified and a single monetary unit appeared. But the name for it arose only in 1960.

In addition to the name yuan, the national currency of China is called "renminbi" - people's money. BUT official name Chinese money in the west - renminbi (renminbi). Control over it, course and development is controlled by the Central Bank - People`s Bank of China (PBoC).

Initially, the "¥" sign was used to represent the Japanese Yen, but in Lately the Chinese began to use it instead of the traditional "Ұ". This leads to confusion in currencies. For example, if 100¥ is written, then it is possible to understand whether it is the national currency of China or Japan, only in connection with the context.

Renminbi and yuan. Denominations of banknotes

It cannot be said that these two terms mean the same thing. Since the first word in the translation sounds like “people's money”, then say that, for example, matches cost 5 people's money, it is forbidden. But saying 5 round objects (round coins) will be correct.

The spelling of the name of Chinese money is also different: in official documents- RNB (renminbi), and banks and exchange offices use the designation CNY.

Yuan consists of 10 Yao (Jiao, Mao), Yao - of 10 fen. Fen is practically not found in everyday life at the present time. Paper notes have the following denominations: 1,5,10,20,50, 100 yuan. The largest of them is equal to about 500 rubles. In addition, 1 yuan is issued in the form of a coin.

Since 1948, 5 series of paper notes have been issued. The last of them, the fifth, in 1999. Banknotes of the fourth series are still accepted for payment in China, but are gradually being withdrawn from circulation. The paper money of the latest series has several differences from the previous series. Their obverse is the same, regardless of the denomination - Mao Zedong is depicted everywhere. And the picture on the reverse of banknotes with different denominations is different.

• 1 - landscape of Xihu Lake
• 5 - Mount Taishan
• 10 – Landscape of the Three Gorges Valley
• 20 - Guilin is depicted
• 50 - Palace in Lhasa
• 100-House of People's Assembly

And, interestingly, it is easy to distinguish a real bill from a fake. To do this, just run your fingertip over the image of Mao Tse Tung's hair. On a real banknote, this place will be embossed.

In addition, the Central Bank of China has developed 11 degrees of protection for the largest banknote.

Dollar and currency basket

Initially, immediately after its creation, the yuan was directly linked to the dollar. Only in 2005, the People's Bank of China abandoned its link to it, and began to focus on the currency basket. In addition to the dollar, it is dominated by the Euro, Yen and Won (currency South Korea). In second place are the British pound sterling, Thai baht, our ruble, Australian, Canadian and Singaporean dollars.

Thanks to this measure, the national currency of the PRC is strengthening, and its rate is increasing by about 7% every year. Despite this, the national currency of this country does not seek to absorb all the others in the world market. And experts continue to experiment on it within the country. For example, in Hong Kong, a different yuan is used. Unlike the generally accepted one, it is abbreviated as CNH, not CNY.

Sometimes, in order to attract cheap foreign yuan into the economy, commissioned by Chinese state corporations, CNH is allowed to turn into CNY. Presumably, the rules of interbank regulation and currency processes for the circulation of ordinary yuan abroad are being worked out on CNH-yuan.

Against the backdrop of recent events in the world economy, fluctuations in the exchange rate of the ruble, euro and dollar, the national money of the PRC is only getting stronger. This is due to the decision of the Chinese government, which refused to take part in the "international devaluation race."

It is also worth noting that on December 29 last year, the combined currency of Russia and China was introduced to the currency markets for the first time. This synthetic currency, on the one hand, is provided by the "gold reserve", and from the Russian side - by resources. If these countries switch to yuan settlements on a large scale, this will mean that the influence of the dollar in the global economy will be noticeably less.

Information for tourists

When visiting this country for the first time, you can exchange money for yuan in official banks that are open from Monday to Saturday, from 8 am to 5 pm on weekdays and from 8 am to 11:30 am on Saturdays, as well as in some hotels and shops. In them, currency exchange is carried out seven days a week. If unspent money remains before departure from the country, they can also be exchanged for cash in the desired currency by presenting a certificate of foreign currency exchange valid for 6 months. Therefore, do not throw away checks from exchange offices.

Thus, having briefly reviewed the history of the origin of the national currency of the PRC, one can trace all the stages of its development and gradual strengthening. Therefore, it is likely that in the near future, the Chinese currency may well become an alternative to the dollar. After all, this country is the second largest "gold reserve" in the world.

One thing is for sure, today you can go on vacation to this country completely freely, without worrying about the events taking place in the world economy and politics. China has too long a history to afford to lose its footing. By the way, it is safer to keep savings not in dollars, but in yuan.

China is a country with the most actively developing economy, so interest in its currency is growing every day. However, the Chinese yuan is not one of the popular forex currencies, and pairs with it are called "exotic". Why did it happen?

The fact is that in China the control over the exchange rate is quite strict, and therefore trading currency pairs with the yuan is a certain difficulty. But first, let's talk a little about the yuan itself and how the Chinese financial system works.

Interestingly, in the Middle Kingdom itself, the national currency has a slightly different name - “yuan renmenbi”, or “people's money”. But since this name is too long, on the international market the Chinese currency is called the yuan, which is familiar to us.

The exchange rate in China is controlled by an analogue of the central bank, the People's Bank of China. This means that RMB trading will always depend on the monetary policy pursued by the PBOC. As you can see, this is very different from the principles of pricing in the forex market, where currency quotes mainly change depending on supply and demand.

The Chinese Central Bank publishes daily the ratio of yuan quotes to other major world currencies. The market exchange rate of the yuan may differ from the one set by the central bank by only 2% in one direction or another. And if for some reason the course Chinese currency goes beyond this price corridor, then the NBK will make every effort to return the national currency exchange rate to the planned track. That is why trading in pairs with the yuan is not so common among forex traders.

Another interesting point related to the yuan is its designation in the trading terminal. Chinese yuan symbol in forex is somewhat different from what is called the yuan, which is traded within China itself. Difficult, isn't it? But there is a logical explanation for everything. Thus, the quotes of the yuan against the dollar on the website of the Chinese Central Bank are designated as USD / CNY, and on the forex market in the trading platform, the pair is written as USD / CNH. The difference is that the Bank of China only officially regulates the USD/CNY (the yuan that only circulates within the country), while USD/CNH is the renminbi that circulates outside of China, such as in Hong Kong. The quotes of these two pairs are not very different, by about 10-15 pips.

If you want to trade yuan on Forex, then you need to look for the dollar / yuan pair in additional symbols in the "market review" tab. At the same time, the market history is available only from 2010, since earlier the yuan was generally unavailable for market speculation.

The official currency of China is the Chinese yuan. The currency has the international designation CNY (another common variant of the RMB). Currently, banknotes of 1, 2 and 5 fen are used in everyday life; 1, 2 and 5 jiao and 1, 2, 5, 10, 50 and 100 yuan coins. 1 yuan is equal to 100 jiao 角 or 100 fen 分. The money is issued by the People's Bank of China.

Currency can be changed at local banks, which are open from 9:00 - 18:00. Break from 12:00 to 13:30. Or a hotel, provided that you are its guest.

Credit cards Visa, Master Card and American Express are accepted exclusively by large hotels and restaurants, dilapidated money is accepted with great reluctance. Throughout the country, the yuan is the only means of payment. It is preferable to exchange currency for yuan in advance when entering the country, and when leaving at the border, you can return VAT on the amount spent using pre-stored receipts and checks.

In China, it is not customary to tip and bargain, except in markets and bazaars. Call cost from mobile phone big enough, not less than 1 dollar per minute.

At present, the yuan does not act as an international currency, but according to experts, in 10-15 years the currency will become one along with the dollar and the euro.

History of occurrence

Qian, feiqian, liang, iambic

The first mention of some form of money in China was 4500 years ago. In the Zhou Dynasty, money took the form of bronze objects that looked like a knife. Approximately in 210 BC. Qin Shi Huang introduced the new kind money - these were copper discs with a square-shaped hole in the center. The circle was the personification of the sky and masculine Yang, and the square - the earth and the feminine Yin. Each coin weighed 3.5 g. On the obverse of the coins, 4 hieroglyphs were depicted, two of which were the motto of the emperor, and the other two were the name of the coins. This design survived well into the 20th century.

During the reign of Tang, a qian coin weighing about 5.4g was in circulation.

During the period of economic growth in China, “feiqian” or “flying money” bills of exchange began to enter into circulation, and already in 1024 paper banknotes began to be printed. They were called variously: jiaozi, qianyin, kuaizi or guanzi. In 1260, during the reign of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, paper notes were replaced with new ones.

In 1643, in the province of Guangdong, silver began to be used as money. These were silver ingots of 1 liang weighing 36 grams (“tael” in the European manner). 1 tael = 10 meis = 100 fyn = 1000 li (cash silver). About 180 varieties of liang with different silver content were in use. The most common were customs liang 37.7, Shanghai - 33.74, treasury - 37.3.

Yamba ingots equal to 50 liang, copper coins (qian or caches) also had distribution.

Yuan

In 1835, the yuan began to be minted in the form of silver coins. In 1889, the yuan was divided into 10 jiao, 100 fen, and 1,000 wen. Until 1933, there was no single currency in China and Tibetan sangas, Xinjiang yuan, Manchurian yuan or gobi, and Japanese military yen were widespread. In 1935, the yuan was withdrawn from circulation and replaced by a gold-based fabi.

In 1948, 1 yuan contained 0.22217 grams of gold. In the same year, new gold yuan in paper form entered circulation (1 gold yuan was equivalent to 3 million fabi). In 1948, as the regions of China were connected, the People's Bank of China was founded and a new currency, the renminbi, was introduced - translated as "people's money" (yuan). In China, the Taiwanese dollar also circulated (1 yuan was equal to 3 Taiwanese dollars).

10,000,000 yuan!!!

Modern money

On the obverse of each banknote, the denomination is indicated in Chinese and Braille, on the reverse - in Tibetan, Mongolian, Zhuang, Zhuang.

1, 5, 10 yuan - Mao Zedong ( statesman, politician) and coat of arms (on the obverse), river landscape in the Changyang Gorge (on the reverse);

20 yuan - Mao Zedong (statesman, politician) and coat of arms (on the obverse), the Yellow River (on the reverse);

50 yuan - Mao Zedong (statesman, politician) and coat of arms (on the obverse), Wall of China (on the reverse);

100 yuan - Mao Zedong (statesman, politician), flying dragon, modern Beijing building China Century Altar.

Degree of protection

Banknotes have a relief inscription, a hologram, a transparent window. On small denomination banknotes there are no security stripes and the degree of protection is less. Mao's hair is one of the security features on large denomination banknotes: you can feel it with your finger. There is a blue halo below the denomination of the banknotes. The most commonly counterfeited banknotes are 100 and 50 yuan.

Modern coins

Since 1999, coins have been issued in denominations of 1, 2, 5 fen 1, 5 jiao and 1 yuan.

Commemorative coins

In June 2011, the coin "90 years of Communist Party China". The coin is minted from brass. The reverse of the coin depicts the coat of arms, peonies, doves (as a symbol of peace), the inscription "90 years of the Communist Party of China".

Coin of 5 yuan "New Year 2011". The reverse depicts a girl holding a windmill (as a symbol of time) and a rabbit. On the reverse, the denomination is written in pinyin - "YI YUAN".

Origin of the word

Yuan is official currency China in the renminbi system. The literal translation of the word “yuan” is a precious shell, and “renminbi” 人民币 is people's money. Yuan also means "round coin". IN Everyday life the word "yuan" is often pronounced as "kuai" (块), and "zao" as "mao" (毛).

Currency symbol

There are two forms of writing the currency symbol: 元 is the regular form, 圓 or 圆 is the complex form. Recently, the symbol Ұ has also been used. The currency symbol "Ұ" is very similar to the Japanese yen symbol "¥". The symbol denotes the first letter of the word “yuan” with a transcription of the Latin alphabet, the hieroglyph 元 means fork, fork. The names of the currencies "yen" (Japan) and "won" (Korea) originated from this word and used the same designation. The yuan sign is placed before the amount: for example, ¥50.

ritual money

In China, they also use ritual money 冥幣，陰司紙、冥鈔 (in literal translation - the money of the afterlife bank). The money is intended to perform the funeral ritual. The Chinese take these banknotes quite seriously: the dead are presented with paper money for life in the afterlife.

Ritual banknotes come in very high denominations: 500, 10,000, 100,000, 500,000,000 dollars. The bills depict the Jade Emperor, dead celebrities (John Kennedy Marilyn Monroe) and the Bank of the Underworld.