Chinese Yuan

The Chinese Yuan is the official currency of China. The Yuan is also sometimes referred to as the Renminbi, which means “people’s currency”. The Yuan is divided into 10 jiao or 100 fen. The symbol for the Yuan is ¥. The Chinese Yuan was first introduced in 1912, replacing the Qing Dynasty’s silver and copper coins. The Yuan was pegged to the US Dollar from 1949 until the early 21st century. In 2005, the Yuan was revalued by 2.1% and the peg to the US Dollar was removed. Since then, the Yuan has been allowed to float in a managed float against a basket of currencies. The value of the Yuan has been on the rise in recent years. Between 2005 and 2015, the Yuan appreciated by over 30%. This has caused some concern that the Yuan is becoming “too strong” and could hurt exports. The Chinese government has taken steps to try to prevent the Yuan from appreciation too much. In August 2015, they devalued the Yuan by 2% in a single day. This caused global financial markets to panic and caused the value of the Yuan to fall. The Chinese Yuan is an important currency and is playing an increasingly important role in the global economy.