Australian dollars to Chinese yuan renminbi

The lowdown on the Chinese yuan renminbi

Knowing exactly what to call the Chinese currency can get a bit confusing. The renminbi is China’s official currency, but the yuan is its basic unit. It’s a bit like in the UK, where the currency is pounds sterling – we don’t say sterling on its own, we just talk about pounds.

In a country known as the People’s Republic, renminbi means the people’s currency – it was introduced when the Communist People’s Republic of China was formed in 1949. You can use yuan in mainland China, but not officially in Hong Kong or Macau – although they might be accepted in some places.

The yuan goes by different names in some parts of China – in Tibet it’s called a gor, and in Mongolia it’s sometimes known as a tugreg or yuani. But the most common name for yuan is kuai, which means piece, or kuai qian, which means pieces of money. In China, it’s just like saying buck in Australia or quid in the UK.