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avissertoday at 12:39 PM4 repliesview on HN

Is it a yuan or is it a Renminbi?


Replies

xingpedtoday at 12:47 PM

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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faitswulfftoday at 12:51 PM

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.

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rf15today at 12:44 PM

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

Markofftoday at 1:30 PM

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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