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Things to know about currency in China

On Behalf of | Dec 1, 2022 | Business Law

Currency refers to the type of money used in a particular country to sell and purchase goods and services. Two different currencies generally have varying exchange rates between them, which means that it might take more of one currency to equal the same value as another currency. When doing business with people in another country, people will likely have to work with their currency and be knowledgeable about the exchange rate between the two countries.

If a businessperson in California will be working with clients in China, here are a couple of things they should know about the currency used in China.

It is the Chinese Yuan

The name of the currency, yuan, comes from the Mandarin word for “round,” just like a coin is round in shape. In China, the term yuan is often used interchangeably with the term renminbi, which is the actual name of the currency, while yuan technically refers to the unit of currency. For example, a businessperson would say that something costs “500 yuan” or that they can sell something for “300 yuan.” The abbreviation for the yuan is CNY.

The yuan unit divides further

A unit of yuan gets further divided into units of jiao. One yuan contains 10 units of jiao; however, if someone needs to divide the currency into even smaller units, they can use the unit fen. One jiao contains 10 units of fen.

Building trust is important when establishing business relationships, and having knowledge of the basics, such as currency, goes a long way when working with clients from other countries.