The
renminbi is the official
currency of the
People's Republic of China. The name literally means "people's currency". The
yuan (
sign:
¥) is the basic unit of the renminbi, but is also used to refer to the Chinese currency generally, especially in international contexts. The distinction between the terms
renminbi and
yuan is similar to that between
sterling and
pound, which respectively refer to the British currency and its primary unit. One yuan is subdivided into 10
jiao , and a
jiao in turn is subdivided into 10
fen .