China's currency is the renminbi (yuan), abbreviated CNY or RMB. As of 2026, roughly 7.5-8 yuan equal 1 euro — exchange rates float, so check a live currency converter for the exact current rate. The next smaller unit is the jiao, followed by the fen: 10 jiao make one yuan, and 100 fen make one yuan.
In short: 1 yuan = 10 jiao = 100 fen.
The yuan was pegged at a fixed rate to the US dollar (1 dollar = 8.28 yuan) until 2005, when China moved to a managed floating exchange rate regime referencing a basket of currencies; as of 2026, the rate is roughly 6.7-7 yuan per US dollar, though it fluctuates with market conditions.
The largest banknote is 100 RMB. There are also 50, 20, 10, 5 and 1 RMB notes, plus small-denomination notes for 1, 2 and 5 jiao (worth roughly 1–2 cents).
To combat counterfeiting, which is fairly common in China, the People's Bank of China introduced new banknotes in 2005 that look almost identical to the previous series but include additional security features such as serial numbers, watermarks, and the EURion constellation — a pattern of small colored circles designed to prevent the notes from being reproduced electronically.
