Is it a yuan or is it a Renminbi?

It's a little confusing, but technically RMB (renminbi) is the official name of the currency and CNY (yuan) is the base unit of the currency. Think of it like the difference between USD ("US Dollar") vs "dollar and cents", except there is no fractional yuan equivalent of cents, so it's all just yuan.

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avisser 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

So the conversation might go, "Hi we're Deutsche Bank - we're able to clear renminbi transactions up to one million yuan." ?

	▲	xingped an hour ago \| parent [-]
		That would most likely be the most correct way to say it, yes.

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darrenf 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Pretty sure the jiao (角) (1/10th of a yuan) is still in use?

	▲	xingped 3 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Oh yeah, you're right, I forgot about that. It doesn't really get used much except occasionally for very small transactions, usually ones less than 10yuan.
	▲	Markoff 3 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		nobody really use jiao (1/10th RMB/CNY), same as nobody really use yuan (CNY/RMB) they are called mao (1/10th RMB/CNY) and kuai (CNY/RMB) in China but mao pretty much dont exist anymore now with electronic QR payments everywhere even in food stalls, heck even beggars have QR codes and fen is for many many years more like some monopoly money papers

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mytailorisrich 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

No there are cents, they are called fen (分).

It's in Japan that it's all just Yen.

	▲	xingped 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Yeah, you're right, you just literally never see any transaction using the 0.01 unit (fen) and only very rarely see any transaction use the 0.1 unit (jiao).

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faitswulff 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

The currency code is CNY or Chinese Yuan. Yuan itself is like “dollar,” with many different countries calling their currency “dollars.” Renminbi refers to the Chinese currency as a whole rather than any particular unit.

	▲	decimalenough 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Fun fact: the Japanese yen and Korean won are both cognates of "yuan". The character 圆 simply means "round" as in circular.

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rf15 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Both. Renminbi is the currency name, while the yuan is the base unit.

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Markoff 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

it's actually "kuai" (pronounced same way as popular incorrect name of famous The Bridge on the River Kwai (the correct name is K(h)waE)) in Chinese streets, if you use yuan or renmimbi you will sound like you pretend to be some snobbish TV news host

I don't think I've ever used anywhere in street, shop or restaurant yuan/renmimbi, at least not in Beijing and around, some people may use yuan, hardly anyone renmimbi

here you have AI answer based on Reddit thread, which I can confirm is correct:

"In everyday spoken Chinese, kuai (块) is overwhelmingly the most common term used to state prices. Yuan (元) is used in formal writing and official contexts, while renminbi (人民币) names the overall currency system like "Sterling" or "USD" rather than a daily price unit."

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vrganj 3 hours ago | parent [-]

As a Western analogy, GBP has similar levels of formality:

Reminbi ~= Pound Sterling

Yuan ~= Pound

Kuai ~= Quid

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Markoff 3 hours ago | parent [-]

Is quid really used in UK by 80-90% people? I thought it's very informal slang word (of some lower educated people), in China most of the people just use kuai (well I guess not bank tellers).

	▲	surgical_fire 2 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		> Is quid really used in UK by 80-90% people? I deal with Brits on a daily basis. I seldom hear them use the term "pound". Everyone says quid.
	▲	vrganj 3 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Pretty much everyone uses it in informal settings in my experience. In a professional environment, people usually say pound. The distinction is context-based, not class- or education-based. It's my understanding the same is the case for kuai vs yuan as well?